


The Oak Tree

by FarishtaFyre



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon - Fandom
Genre: Boys Kissing, Bullying, High School AU, Homophobic Language, Intense Rumination, Internalized Homophobia, Intrusive Thoughts, Latent abandonment issues, M/M, Nightmares, Non-Consensual Touching, Self-Hatred, Toxic Masculinity, Underage Drinking, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 10:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 32,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29748810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FarishtaFyre/pseuds/FarishtaFyre
Summary: Thousands of people lived in Pallet Town and yet Blue Oak felt alone. He decides to test an experiment: would anyone still want to be his friend if he didn't have the identity he had carefully constructed over the years? Using an online account, Blue befriends "ReDragon." The bond deepens as they realize that they attend the same school. How will the two students react when they realize that they've already met? Will Blue be able to step out of the comfortable embrace of the shadows cast by the looming oak tree to face the harsh judgment of the bright red sun? Or will he stay hidden forever?
Relationships: Ookido Green | Blue Oak & Red, Ookido Green | Blue Oak/Red
Comments: 14
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Your boy has two exams on Monday and what does he decide to do on Saturday night? If you said "study" then you guessed wrong.

Blue Oak lived by the idea that if he wanted something, he got it. Maybe that was part of an Ariana Grande song— _I want it, I got it_ —but it’s not like Blue would admit that aloud. Sure, he believed in toxic masculinity and supported the idea of men showing emotions. But _him_? Showing emotions? That would _never_ happen. He had to be strong and proud—like an oak tree standing firm against the cruel gale. It had been instilled from him since the start. He was the grandson of the esteem Professor Samuel Oak: the famous professor who had published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers on the relationships between animals and humans. It was Blue’s strongest weapon and his biggest weakness. He could nearly impress _anyone_ —especially in the small Pallet Town community—with his flaunts about shadowing his grandfather’s research. But that was about as far as he could get before the interest in him became superficial. No one wanted to know _Blue_. They just wanted to know more about _Oak_. For a while, Blue pretended to cope with that dissonance: after all, he could eventually impress them like his grandfather did, right?

Blue was wrong—although he also wouldn’t admit that aloud to anyone. Despite years of high grades, extracurricular leadership, social climbing, and strategic friendships—he was still only lauded as _an_ Oak _._ No one seemed to care that Blue took difficult classes at a young age. No one seemed to care that Blue could hold conversations about nearly anything—videogames, politics, animals, movies, etc. They were always impressed with him, but that amazement only was fueled from his last name. The surname that was supposed to remind everyone of how strong and tall he would grow. It started to become clear—perhaps around his sophomore year of high school—that Blue was perhaps fundamentally unlikable.

The thought, at first, made no sense. After all—he was almost always surrounded by friends. He had the coolest stories about his grandfather’s lab. He wasn’t even poor. To Blue, it reminded him of the strong oak tree in the middle of the woods. It provided shade to those who became close. It was familiar: like a legacy for the critters of the woods. But did anyone care about the leaves on the tree? The _green_ foliage that gave the tree its own unique appearance and stature? If the leaves were to all disappear the next day—the branches and sturdiness of the bark would still provide shelter for those who wanted it. If anything, Blue saw the leaves as an accessory: something beautiful but nothing worth keeping. After all—compared to the legacy that the oak tree carried—who would care about some worthless leaves?

Perhaps this extended metaphor—coupled with the heightened neuroticism, rumination, and overall inferiority that Blue felt compared to others—was why he was browsing Poggo. The website, Poggo, allows registered members to submit content to the site, such as links, text posts, and images. The content would be voted “up” or “down” by other members. These posts would then be organized by subject into communities. There were nearly an infinite number of communities on Poggo that covered nearly every topic possible: news, politics, science, movies, video games, music, books, sports, fitness, cooking, pets, etc. He still had that AP psychology assignment to finish up, but his attention was drifting toward some heated debate between two Poggo users. He wouldn’t say it aloud (like most of his thoughts) but Poggo helped him keep up with nearly every topic for any type of conversation. It was his secret weapon. For memes, knowledge, skills—anything. Someone on Poggo had probably already created a thread and all Blue had to do was read through it.

Maybe it had been the stinging loneliness or maybe it was the fact that his grandfather had just told him to order pizza for dinner since he would be out late at a research presentation. Blue thought about reaching out to his sister—Daisy. She was, like her namesake, beautiful and strong. She was caring and kind. Everyone liked her. So it only seemed natural that Blue felt the urge to _not_ be Daisy. After all, he was already drowning in the Oak legacy. But when he thought about how stressful her college classes probably were, Blue decided to browse some more random communities on Poggo.

The WAFFLE

 **W** ant **A** **F** riend? **F** ight **L** onely **E** nergy

“That is a pathetic name for a community.” Blue snickered as if someone was listening to him. As if his hand was acting on its own accord, Blue still ended up clicking the link to the community. There were already thousands of posts from people of all different ages and genders seeking out friends. Immediately, the first thought that popped into Blue’s head was about how much of a _loser_ did someone have to be to post something like this. Then it hit him—like a splash of cold water—that he was browsing this community _because_ he was so alone. How could he say that he was any better than the people he just belittled?

Glancing at the time, Blue saw that he still had to kill about 15 minutes or so before the pizza arrived. Knowing that he would hate to be interrupted when working on his AP psychology homework, he reasoned that he could just make a post—just for fun, of course. This would be a _hilarious_ joke he could laugh at later. Although a thought hit Blue: was he laughing at the idea of posting on the WAFFLE or was he laughing at the thought that anyone would actually be interested in him?

Maybe this could be the best opportunity. His AP psychology teacher talked about “experiments” and how they demonstrated parts of human behavior. Maybe this could be an experiment: no one would know Blue’s last name or his past as the esteemed grandson of the professor or the younger brother of the nicest woman alive. He would be…

**POGGO@POGGO.COM**

To _me_

Your username is:

BlueTurtle

Visit this link to verify your email address:

_ Link _

Thanks for using the site!

As Blue clicked the link to verify his email address, he wondered if it was smart to put his first name in his username. Then again—his name _was_ a color. A common color that _anyone_ could like, right? And turtles were bad-ass, right? When Blue had been a kid, he tried to convince his grandfather to help him give a turtle some rocket blasters on his shell. Professor Oak had only mildly entertained the boy before leaving him in the hands of his older sister.

 **Title:** 17M PT. Junior in HS looking for a friend.

 **Text:** Not really sure what to put here. I guess I’m lonely. Everyone around me likes me for who they think I am but no one really gets me. I like animals they’re pretty cool. Some of my favorites are turtles (duh), foxes, and cats. Hit me up if you wanna chat. Smell ya later!

Pleased with his _sophisticated_ post, Blue hit “submit” and waited for the page to load. There—he had done it. He had posted anonymously and now he could test out his experiment. Was there anything to really like about Blue beyond his last name? Before he could ruminate further, the doorbell rang and the smell of melted cheese, garlic, and tomato sauce filled the air. The pizza was here!

* * *

Students were talking and laughing as they trickled into the hallway. There were footsteps pounding on the tile floors and even louder footsteps banging up and down the stairs. Blue carried his usual aplomb as he headed to his locker. When he had woken up this morning, Blue was surprised to see a handful of messages in his inbox. The first message was from some _weird adult_ who was like twice his age (according to his profile) and who wanted to show Blue his “personal pictures.” That was an instant no. The second, third, and fourth messages all seemed cheery and bright. They related to Blue’s loneliness and were around his age. The final message was the weirdest and Blue still hadn’t decided whether or not to reply to it.

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/ReDragon _sent 10 hours ago_

Hey. Saw your message. I’m from Pallet Town (PT) too and a junior (18M) too. Do you like rats?

Blue had scoffed: rats were _gross_ and _so not cute_. When he had stalked ReDragon’s profile, he was mildly surprised not to see much content. The other users who had messaged him had multiple posts/comments on their profiles so Blue could get a sense about them. This user literally seemed to pop out of nowhere. But that’s not what worried Blue the most: it was the fact that someone else was in _Pallet Town_ and a _junior_. There was only one main school in the town and that likely meant that ReDragon went to the same school as Blue. Did they know each other?

Shaking his gelled brown hair to ward off the incoming headache, Blue shut his locker and met up with some of his friends. They were laughing about something—probably some dumb story they read online.

“Wow, what a complete loser!” Jocelyn giggled. “Did he start crying when you asked him to talk?” A few snickers across the group gave Blue an idea that he was catching the tail-end of a story. Blue remembered Jocelyn because they bonded over their like for birds. Like a hawk hunting its prey, Jocelyn always seemed to look for the easiest target.

“I wish!” Brian laughed. Blue remembered how the kid was in elementary school. He always liked playing with worms. Suddenly he had grown out of that phase and now liked to harass ‘weird’ kids. There was probably a psychological complex there. “Freak’s so weird. Just stares and writes in his notebook.”

“Who?” Blue flashed his trademark smile as Joanna and Brittany gave him hugs. Jocelyn darted her eyes between Brian and Rick, as if she was trying to stop herself from laughing.

“I think his name is Red!” Rick guffawed, his deep voice betraying his thin and wiry body. If Blue remembered correctly, Rick had been obsessed with caterpillars and always talked about how his caterpillar would turn into a butterfly. The bug-loving days seemed to be gone for Rick. “He moved here when we were in middle school. You know—he wears the same hat and shit every day.” It dawned on Blue as to who they were talking about.

Red had initially caught Blue’s attention when the quiet kid transferred into the school system. After all, they were both named after colors. But if 13-year old Blue had to pick between befriending the kid who looked like he was about to cry when the teacher asked him to introduce himself or befriending the kids who had the coolest Instagram accounts—the choice was easy for him. They never seemed to have any classes together, but in Pallet Town—everyone knew each other. _So does that mean ReDragon would know me? Would I know them?_

“He looks like he would skin my pet rat alive and eat its bones.” Joanna giggled. “I’m surprised he still goes here. Wasn’t he like in special education or something?” Blue had nearly forgotten about Joanna’s pet rat. She pretended like she hated it and that it was gross even though she had once drunkenly confessed to Blue how cute she found it. She acted like she had never said that the next time they talked after the party.

“Maybe he’s one of those kids who eats glue when the fire alarm goes off.” Brittany broke into a loud fit of laughter with the rest of the kids. As Blue practiced his usual pitch of laughing, he thought about how Brittany once dyed her rabbit’s fur blue and said that it would grow up to be a rabbit queen. Would all of his friends—Jocelyn, Brian, Rick, Brittany, and Joanna—would they laugh at themselves when they were kids? Or would they bury those memories as deep into the ground as they could? Blue almost envied them for that ability. As hard as he could try, he could never escape the looming shadow of the Oak family.

“What a loser. His mom probably picks his clothes out for him every day since he doesn’t have the brain power to do anything else.” Blue chuckled along with the other kids. Despite the venom in his words, Blue only felt the thorns of his syllables puncture his own skin. If Red’s mom picked out his clothes—then great—because at least he still _had_ a mom. For as long as Blue could remember, it was just him, Daisy, and their grandfather.

There was suddenly a loud stomping sound by Blue but before he could turn around to see who was stomping past him, Brittany’s loud screeching laugh deafened him but her words and the flash of a red cap gave away who had been nearby. The familiar faded yellow backpack also made a slight glow before the other student had turned around the corner.

“Oh my god, the mute heard us!” Brittany laughed as she bent over, holding her abdomen as if it would fall out from her body. “He’s probably going to go cry to his mommy at home.” Blue continued to laugh along with his friends but his soul wasn’t there. What if ReDragon knew who he was? Blue Oak: the smart (and smartass) bully with a costume so carefully designed to hide his insecurities? ReDragon would probably hate Blue the way he hated himself. At least when he pointed out everyone else’s flaws, it helped hide his ugliness.

* * *

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/BlueTurtle _sent 2 minutes ago_

Sup. What a small place, right? Can’t wait to leave here. I heard there might be a spring break trip to Kalos next year. I think rats are gross. How’s your day going?

Blue wasn’t happy with his response, but he figured he would give it a shot. So far, no one else had replied to him so what did he have to lose if ReDragon didn’t reply? To his surprise, his phone buzzed in his pocket. With years of practice, Blue snuck out his phone and placed it carefully on his desk so it looked like he was reading his textbook (as he was supposed to be doing).

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/ReDragon _sent just now_

Awful. Hate it here.

That surprised Blue. Everyone in Pallet Town seemed to _love_ Pallet Town. It was “small” and “cute” and “everyone knew each other.” The school was actually well-equipped with quality teachers and there were major landmarks in the small area—his grandfather’s research facility being one of them. The proximity to Viridian Forest and Viridian City also gave the town a reputation as a breath of fresh air from the urban lifestyle. He didn’t know someone else actually hated the town as much as he did.

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/BlueTurtle _sent just now_

Honestly? Same. I can’t wait to leave this town for college. Viridian City’s too close. I would want to go abroad or something. Why do you hate it here? Don’t you know that this is the “cutest” town ever?

Blue ignored the slight skip in his heart as he wondered who ReDragon was. The other user was a guy, according to his first message. That took out the cute girl who sat near him—Ikue. Could it be Scott—he was like the perfect student-athlete? But why would any of them hate Pallet Town? They _thrived_ from the social swamp that drowned everyone. It was like Stockholm Syndrome: perhaps everyone was so unhappy that they convinced themselves that they were happy. When Blue’s phone buzzed again, he was happy to see that ReDragon had replied.

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/ReDragon _sent just now_

Mean people. Too loud. Don’t get me.

Despite the brevity in ReDragon’s words, Blue felt something resonate within himself with that brief message. Blue definitely felt misunderstood: he was supposed to be popular and jocular and funny. No one would take him seriously if he expressed that he actually wanted to study psychology—that was a “fake science” according to his grandfather. Would they laugh at him for being a guy who wanted a pet cat or a pet fox _so badly_? Would they understand what he meant when he said that he didn’t want to live in the shadow of his family again?

The loudness—well, Blue didn’t really have an opinion on that. Some people—like Jocelyn—definitely spoke loudly. The first part of the message, however, tugged at Blue’s heart. _Mean people_. What if he was included in that group? He wasn’t _mean_ , but Blue guessed that he could be quite…unlikable with his pointed jokes. He thought back to how Red heard his insult and stormed past him. Maybe he was a mean kid…

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/BlueTurtle _sent just now_

Same dude. Want me to beat up anyone for you? The last fight was over a month ago. We need more gossip around the school.

Blue tried to hide the smile at his lame joke. Would ReDragon find it funny? He would probably find it stupid. Would he stop replying like the other three Poggo users that had messaged him? Why would they message him if they were just going to ghost him? Maybe he was just that unlikable. After a few minutes, Blue didn’t hear his phone go off and figured that ReDragon was going to stop messaging him. Blue guessed that he could maybe try to find better jokes…

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/ReDragon _sent just now_

We go to the same school?

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/BlueTurtle _sent just now_

Uh, yeah? How many schools does Pallet Town even have? The next closest school is one of the ones in Viridian City.

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/ReDragon _sent just now_

Oh.

_Oh_? Jeez, this ReDragon was _not_ great at conversation. Yet somehow that monosyllabic response still intrigued Blue. Had the other user not realized that they were—more likely than not—classmates? A slight distraction suddenly prompted Blue to wonder if _this_ would be the final straw: what if ReDragon put together who BlueTurtle was? And so ReDragon would stop replying to him? Then, like someone heard his racing thoughts, his phone buzzed again.

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/ReDragon _sent just now_

I drew a turtle. Do you want to see it?

That was…random? Blue glanced at the clock. His history class still had a half-hour left. Why not find some entertainment? Blue replied “sure” and hid his phone in his lap as the teacher made rounds to make sure that everyone was actually reading the textbook. Luckily, by the time ReDragon replied, the teacher was halfway across the room.

When Blue opened the picture, he wanted to laugh. He didn’t know why he was expecting some type of Mona Lisa-esque drawing. It wasn’t a _bad_ drawing, if Blue was being honest. But it wasn’t some type of masterpiece that he would have expected from a mysterious stranger on Poggo. Even more intriguingly, the turtle had a large bald head that glowed while it stood on its own two feet. What caught Blue off-guard the most was the squirrel-like tail that the turtle had. He noticed a bright red pencil pouch filled with colored-pencils and erasers in the bottom-left corner of the snapshot.

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/BlueTurtle _sent just now_

Looks good, bro. I like the tail. What would you name it if you had it as a pet?

**Re: Turtles are cool**

From /u/ReDragon _sent just now_

Squirtle.

That was quick. Blue inwardly wondered if the other man had already named the turtle as he drew him out. The more Blue looked at the turtle, the cuter he found it. But he would never say it aloud—after all, he was _Blue Oak_ and he was a _strong man_.

* * *

The week passed by without much commotion. Blue and his friends made some plans to have a party at Brian’s house. His parents were off at Saffron City for the weekend so they would have enough time to drink, party, and then clean up the mess before they came home. Naturally, Professor Oak didn’t seem bothered when Blue mentioned that he would be going out with his friends for the weekend. On one end, Blue wondered if the older man thought he was mature enough to make his own decisions. That idea quickly deflated when Blue realized that the old man had been this way _his entire life_.

The only excitement that Blue had experienced before the week ended was when ReDragon responded to his request to exchange numbers. Blue wouldn’t deny that he was hoping that ReDragon’s number would autofill in his phone and that he would figure out who the other student was. Not that he was befriending the other guy. But there was this weird way that the bluntness that ReDragon exhibited in his messages caught Blue’s attention. It was a weird synergy. Where Blue was talkative—nearly typing a paragraph in every message he sent—ReDragon was concise and to-the-point. Yet the other student still managed to get his point across. A part of him feared that ReDragon would stop responding to him when he asked for his phone number but when he saw the badge on his Poggo app light-up with a notification, Blue ran to open it. Once he copied and pasted the number into his phone, Blue’s smile faltered as the number remained unknown. The only consolation that gave Blue was that perhaps ReDragon didn’t know who Blue was—and therefore didn’t have his number.

**Blue:** Hey! It’s BlueTurtle from Poggo. You going to Brian’s party tonight?

 **ReDragon:** No.

 **Blue:** Oh, think you’re too cool for parties?

 **ReDragon:** No invite.

Oh shit. That was…uncomfortable. Blue tapped his foot anxiously in his bedroom as he wondered what to say. He was doing an awful job at starting this conversation off well. So far, the two boys had mainly talked about animals and the interesting animal-monsters that ReDragon would occasionally sketch. They talked about classes—they had no overlapping ones. They talked about clubs—where ReDragon was absent since he didn’t want to join a club.

**Blue:** What are your plans for the weekend then?

 **ReDragon:** Idk. Homework.

Blue started to type the question at the forefront of his mind: _Do you want to go to the party with me?_ But then he quickly erased the _with me_ part. Starting at his edited question, Blue exhaled sharply before deleting the entire message. While it would be easy to convince Brian to let him bring a random classmate, Blue got the sense that ReDragon didn’t like partying.

 **Blue:** Well if you draw anymore pocket monsters, feel free to send them to me if you want any ideas.

 **ReDragon:** Okay.

Blue couldn’t even describe _why_ he was so intrigued by ReDragon. Was it because the other kid shared the same secret disdain for the simplicity of Pallet Town? Was it because Blue was surprised that someone was actually still talking to him without knowing who he was? Blue couldn’t even find himself to be annoyed with the short responses. He remembered hearing Jocelyn complain about some guy who used short responses with her on Tinder and how she hated it. But Blue didn’t seem to mind.

When Blue got ready for the party, he walked out the door without even much of a wave to his grandfather. The older man probably hadn’t even noticed Blue leave the house as engrossed as he was in some grant application. The _one_ benefit of Pallet Town was that any place was a short walk away. And the weather wasn’t _too_ bad.

Once Blue reached Brian’s house, he embraced his already-drunken friend as they moved into the main living room. There was a table in the corner where people were playing beer pong. Another table had a sofa around it where some people had blunts and red cups full of drinks. Blue swore he could smell chips, but he didn’t see any nearby.

Like most parties, it was loud and hot. Blue didn’t know he started to have random thoughts as he danced with Jocelyn and then Brittany and then Jocelyn again.

_ReDragon would hate this party. He hates loud noises._

Blue tried his best to dance away the intriguing idea that drawing monsters with his anonymous friend seemed more tantalizing than swaying his hips with Jocelyn. Sure, the girl’s long dark hair smelled nice. But Blue knew he had a _better_ smelling shampoo. His thoughts on the scents wafting from Jocelyn’s hair were quickly interrupted when Jocelyn turned around so their arms were wrapped around each other’s waists.

“Bluuuuuue.” Jocelyn’s drunk voice slurred. “So when are we going to….”

“Going tooooo?” Blue sung along, hiding his confusion about what Jocelyn was talking about.

“Come onnnnn.” Jocelyn giggled. “Everyone already basically thinks that we’re dating. When are we gonna actually start?” The alcohol coursing through Blue’s veins had _not_ been prepared for that. If there was one boundary, he kept away from everyone—it was his dating life. He started coughing and pulled away from Jocelyn. Unfortunately it attracted attention from a few other party guests—one of whom handed him some water.

“S-Sorry.” Blue coughed, desperately avoiding eye-contact with Jocelyn. “I-I need to get some air.” With those words, Blue navigated himself through the messy maze of drunken high-schoolers to find some type of exit. Was Jocelyn calling after him? He had to leave. He could not deal with this here.

Once he could taste the fresh evening air, Blue finally let out a breath he hadn’t realized that he was keeping inside the whole time. Looking up at the stars, Blue finally realized that it was not raining: there were actually tears trickling down his face. The alcohol had numbed some of his senses, sure, but it also made him feel like throwing everything away. He wanted to run into Viridian Forest and never look back. Deciding he couldn’t do that, Blue did what he thought was best and pulled out his phone.

 **Blue:** Yo you awakeeeee?

 **ReDragon:** Yeah.

 **Blue:** Cool!! I’m a bit drunk.

 **ReDragon:** Shocker.

 **Blue:** You really like using small words do you not like texting? Would you rather talk on the phone?

That was treading dangerous territory because Blue _knew_ he could probably identify who ReDragon was if they talked on the phone.

**ReDragon:** No. I hate talking.

 **Blue:** You’re talking to me, silly!

 **ReDragon:** We’re texting.

 **Blue:** This party stinks, btw. You’re lucky you didn’t get invited.

 **ReDragon:** Why?

 **Blue:** Ugh, just everyone here fucking sucks, man! They all want me to be this funny, charming and smart guy that comes to their parties and laughs at their dumb jokes.

 **ReDragon:** What do you want to be?

 **Blue:** Me. I want to talk about cute animals. About my real music tastes. My stupid family.

 **ReDragon:** You should talk to your friends about it.

 **Blue:** LOL. Bruh, I don’t have friends! Isn’t that so funny??

 **ReDragon:** No.

 **Blue:** It’s SO funny!! Because there’s all these people around me but I don’t care about any of them! They’re all just empty like they buried their real selves forever ago. I hate this town.

 **ReDragon:** Me too.

 **Blue:** We should just leave. Go on an adventure together and like…catch monsters.

 **ReDragon:** We have to finish school first.

 **Blue:** Fuck school man!

 **ReDragon:** If you are around people, aren’t they your friends?

 **Blue:** Hell no man! One of them just tried to kiss me or something!

 **ReDragon:** Oh.

 **Blue:** Guess what? I’m gay. Hahahahahahahaha.

Blue knew he wasn’t actually laughing. He was crying. He had _never_ admitted it to anyone. How could he? He heard all the old ladies purr about how his grandfather was _so_ handsome as a young man. Everyone in the town talked about how Blue was such a _strong man_. And Blue knew that strong men didn’t cry. They didn’t show their feelings. And they definitely didn’t think about shirtless guys in the locker room instead of being excited to spy on the girls changing in their locker room. Would his grandfather even care? Probably not. Daisy would be the only one who would care but what could she do when she had her own life to deal with? Blue could only imagine the laughter and jokes that his _friends_ would say if they knew that he was gay. Brian and Rick would _glare_ at him with disgust. Jocelyn would probably scream at him for turning her down. No one would ever look at Blue the same way again.

**ReDragon:** Okay.

 **Blue:** Okay?! I’m a fucking freak, man! Pallet Town would roast me alive if they knew!

 **ReDragon:** I’m a freak, too.

 **Blue:** Huh?

 **ReDragon:** That’s what the town calls me.

 **Blue:** Why? Dude, if anyone in the town is real, it’s you! You draw those cool bad-ass monsters and you listen to my drunken rambling texts and you actually replied to my post on Poggo.

 **ReDragon:** I thought you got a lot of responses.

 **Blue:** Everyone left. Like they always do.

 **ReDragon:** I wouldn’t leave. I tried to run away before.

 **Blue:** What?!

 **ReDragon:** Yeah. Mom got mad but then started crying. I didn’t like seeing her cry.

 **Blue:** Would you ever run away again?

 **ReDragon:** No.

 **Blue:** Why the hell not?! This town sucks!

 **ReDragon:** It does. But I have a friend in this town who is important to me.

 **Blue:** You would stay for this one friend? This person must be the fucking king of the world to get you to stay in this town.

 **ReDragon:** It’s you. You’re my friend. My only friend.

Blue felt like the ground around him was spinning slightly so he knelt down. Was he about to throw up? Maybe he had taken too many shots. He lost count after the third one with Brittany.

**Blue:** What do you mean? Everyone has friends here. There’s no way I’m your only friend.

 **ReDragon:** Nope.

 **Blue:** I don’t believe you. I’m sure you have friends! What about in your classes?

 **ReDragon:** No.

 **Blue:** What happened to all of your other friends?!

 **ReDragon:** Never had them.

 **Blue:** What the fuck?! How did you even fucking make it to high school?

 **ReDragon:** Mom. And my pet rat. His name is Pikachu.

 **Blue:** Is there not anyone that you would want to be friends with at the school?

 **ReDragon:** No. Everyone’s mean.

Blue couldn’t disagree. He wondered if ReDragon had ever been a victim of the vicious gossiping that he and his friends spread across the school. He _so_ desperately wanted to ask who ReDragon was. How was there someone in Pallet Town who didn’t have any friends? How did someone try to run away from home and no one talked about it? This kid would have to have been completely invisible for the town to ignore him.

Blue paused as he let out another few deep breaths. Invisible. He was invisible, too. He could be seen by his friends and his classmates and the rest of the town. But they didn’t actually see him—they saw what he wanted them to see. The more that Blue thought about it—the further he dug his heels into the dirt as he leaned against a nearby tree—he actually could understand _how_ ReDragon had no friends.

They were in the same position. Alone. Afraid. Absent. Pallet Town was quaint, welcoming, and inspiring in how it sprouted from the ground from obscurity. Yet there were the invisible kids—like Blue and ReDragon and whoever else—who had to stay invisible in order to protect the town’s image of acceptance and tranquility.

* * *

Other than seeing the random sketches that ReDragon would send him throughout the day, Blue ignored his phone. Jocelyn had called him a few times but he had ignored all of her messages. Fuck—how was he supposed to explain his panic? He hoped he could just blame it on the alcohol which was a likely story. But what would happen if Jocelyn brought up the conversation again?

Blue wanted to reach out to Daisy and ask for her advice. But she was busy. He knew she was busy. She was too busy for him. After all, most of her life had been about taking care of Blue—so how could he be more selfish and ask for more of her time and energy? He needed to let her go and live her life.

**Blue:** Hey I like the design for Pidgeot. But can I talk to you about something?

 **ReDragon:** Sure.

 **Blue:** Does it not bother you that I’m gay? I mean you’re a guy, too. What if I’m trying to get in your pants?

 **ReDragon:** Are you?

Blue blushed at that insinuation and coughed again, hoping that somehow ReDragon could hear his stifled grunt.

**Blue:** No!

 **ReDragon:** Okay. Then how does being gay affect me?

 **Blue:** What if someone saw me around you? Wouldn’t they suspect that you might be gay too?

 **ReDragon:** I don’t care what people think.

 **Blue:** How?

 **ReDragon:** I lied. I do care.

Blue didn’t know how to respond. His only consolation was that his phone showed the typing bubble that indicated that ReDragon was typing. Usually the other student replied quickly. What was he typing that the seconds felt like hours?

**ReDragon:** I hate everyone. They’re mean. They laugh at me. They say mean stuff. If I kept on crying every time they made fun of me then I wouldn’t have time to feed Pikachu.

Something about the other student’s text hit Blue hard in his gut, as if he really had been punched. He didn’t know what startled him the most. The fact that this was the longest text he ever had from his friend? The fact that his friend was insinuating that the bullying and treatment was so bad that he would be crying all the time? Or, Blue thought, should he focus on how his classmate grew a thick skin for his pet rat?!

**Blue:** I wish I was as strong as you.

 **ReDragon:** Why does it matter to anyone who you like?

 **Blue:** Bruh, if you knew who I was then you would get it. I have a reputation. I have to keep up this act like I’m the fucking shit. If anyone could sense that I was weak then they would eat me alive.

 **ReDragon:** I don’t think Pallet Town has cannibals.

 **Blue:** Shut up!

Blue couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t _sure_ if ReDragon had been joking. But still, having this outlet was surprisingly helpful for Blue. It felt like he could be himself. He could nerd out about cool animal facts. He could call things cute. He could say what he wanted.

* * *

The next month passed as the winds dipped into colder jabs. Blue preferred the warmth of the sun: he hated how cold he felt and how he had to rely on _himself_ to stay warm. Still, Blue was glad that time was marching forward. The semester was going to end soon, and winter break would start. That meant that Daisy would come home soon! It also meant that his classes would be on break and he could spend more time playing video games with ReDragon.

It had started out by an innocently asked question from the other classmate. Blue was surprised when his friend asked if Blue played Colosseum. It was this online MMORPG that Blue had vaguely heard about from one of his classmates. The premise of the game was to rescue “shadow” monsters and “purify” them through the power of friendship. Blue clearly had a lot to learn when he was setting up his account: there were different “elements” that had different “advantages” and even though this one black fox monster looked cool, the purple fox could deal more damage. ReDragon was kind enough to give him some pointers but soon enough the two fell into a familiar pattern of raiding together to “save the monsters.”

Blue didn’t see the harm of this nerdy activity. It was fun. He was still getting his homework done. And it’s not like Gramps even noticed what he did in his room, anyways.

There was one drawback. And it was his “friends.” Jocelyn had dropped the embarrassing incident at the party and they all resumed their normal batter. There were parties here-and-there, but Blue was lucky that most families stayed within Pallet Town for the winter which meant less parties for him.

At first, his friends hadn’t noticed anything strange. It was one day—after Brian had stolen Red’s backpack and dumped out his stuff on the ground—that Brittany pointed out how much time Blue spent on his phone.

“Huh? Naw, I just like looking up stuff.” Blue lied. Jocelyn narrowed her eyes at him, trying to convey more words than she could with just a look.

“What? Do you have a girlfriend that we don’t know about?” Jocelyn laughed although there was a frost to her voice that reminded Blue of the coldness outside.

“Why does the freak have so many colored pencils? Is he in fucking kindergarten?” Rick laughed. Blue half-glanced at the ground and although the bright red pencil pouch seemed oddly familiar to him, he stuffed the feeling down into his chest and focused his attention back on Jocelyn.

“I guess I might have too many admirers to keep track of.” Blue winked. The gasps that came from Joanna and Brittany, however, made Blue wonder if he said the wrong thing. Jocelyn’s face fell even more—if that was possible—and she muttered something incomprehensible under her breath before storming to the girl’s bathroom. Joanna and Brittany were at her heels, prompting Blue to wonder what the _fuck_ was going on.

“Dude, that was a dick move.” Brian chuckled as he looked through the yellow backpack for any cash. “You know she totally wanted to hook-up with you that night.”

“Oh.” Blue’s throat went dry.

“Don’t wanna violate bro-code man, but if you don’t wanna hit that, I’m down.” Rick grinned. Blue gulped although he could hardly feel his breath as it got lodged in his throat. Before he had to say anything, there was a savior—well, a very upset savior.

The weird kid—Red—whose backpack had been taken by Brian stomped up to the trio of boys. Blue spared a glance at the other kid, his amber eyes briefly making eye contact with Red’s darker brown irises. Before he could continue to stare, Red tugged at the rim of his cap and shielded his eyes from Blue as if he would wilt away under the other boy’s stare.

“Huh? Anything wrong buddy?” Brian’s grin made Blue feel nauseous. “Hey, come on, use your words.”

Red clenched his fists and let out a sharp exhale. That was probably the closest thing to a word that Blue had ever heard from the other boy. For a moment, he wondered if Red was going to (rightfully) punch Brian. Instead, the capped boy bent his knees and started collecting the items that had fallen from his backpack.

“Oh shit, is that the principal? Bro, let’s go before the mute freak learns how to talk and snitches on us.” Rick patted Blue’s shoulder as he followed Brian around the corner of the hallway. Blue couldn’t move, for some reason. Even though he had never heard ReDragon’s voice, he thought back to one of the texts that Redragon had sent him:

**_ReDragon:_ ** _I hate everyone. They’re mean. They laugh at me. They say mean stuff. If I kept on crying every time they made fun of me then I wouldn’t have time to feed Pikachu._

“Uh, they’re…a lot to deal with.” Blue squatted to reach the floor to help Red pick up the rest of his stuff. When he reached over to grab the seemingly familiar pencil pouch, Red snatched it from him and gave him a glower. Red’s shoulders tensed, unintentionally showing the flex of some of his arm’s muscles.

Blue got the hint, however, and stood back up. As Red collected the rest of his stuff in his backpack, Blue couldn’t help but _want_ to say something. But he couldn’t find the words. It was like they were lost on him. And for some reason, his mind kept on thinking back to that pencil pouch.

“I like your…pencil pouch.” Blue weakly grinned. Red responded by balling his hands into fists and turning around to walk away. Blue decided that he could make ReDragon proud and try to apologize to Red so he reached out to Red’s shoulder to turn him around. Surprisingly, Red was able to push Blue against the wall of lockers as he threw Blue’s hand off of him.

“Bro, what the fuck?!” Blue groaned as several people in the hallway watched. There was an odd sense of guilt: even though Blue knew that the whispers and giggles from bystanders weren’t directed toward him—he felt guilty for even drawing more attention to the other kid. Red looked like he wanted to say something but instead he grabbed the arms of his backpack and walked away as fast as he could.

When word spread around, Brian and Rick teased that Red was going to go all “serial-killer mode” on Blue. Jocelyn had thawed and asked if Blue was okay before returning to talk to Brittany and Joanna. Man, Blue couldn’t fucking _wait_ until winter break.

* * *

As much as Blue’s shoulder stung from Red’s manhandling earlier in the day, he decided not to bring it up to ReDragon in case the other boy deduced his identity. In an effort to lift his mood, Blue decided to text the one person who actually made him feel like he could be himself.

**Blue:** Dude I hate this school.

 **ReDragon:** Same.

 **Blue:** Hey, what are your plans for winter break?

 **ReDragon:** Nothing.

 **Blue:** We can play Colosseum more! My sister comes home though but I can still make time.

 **ReDragon:** Cool.

 **Blue:** Hey, you okay? You type short responses but this is a few in a row.

 **ReDragon:** No.

 **Blue:** What happened?

 **ReDragon:** I hate this school.

 **Blue:** Did someone say something?

 **ReDragon:** Sorta.

 **Blue:** I’ll beat them up for you, bro. Just give me a name.

 **ReDragon:** It’s okay.

Blue ran a hand through his hair and easily ignored the glower he was receiving from Brittany for paying more attention to his phone than her gossip. He thought back to the anger emanating from Red and the humiliation that the taller boy must have felt. Maybe Blue should have just left him alone. But how was that okay?! It wasn’t fair for Red to be treated that way.

**Blue:** No it’s not! There’s too many kids here who have to deal with bullshit and nothing happens to the bullies because they’re seen as good kids. It’s typical Pallet town tradition to muzzle the quiet and promote the loud.

 **ReDragon:** Yeah.

 **Blue:** Funny story, by the way. My friend saw me looking at our texts and thought I had a secret girlfriend.

 **ReDragon:** Do you?

 **Blue:** Bro wtf? No! I literally only talk to you.

 **ReDragon:** Oh. Thanks. Me too.

 **Blue:** You only talk to me?

 **ReDragon:** Yeah.

 **Blue:** Why doesn’t anyone tease you about having a secret girlfriend then?

 **ReDragon:** Idk. My mom does.

 **Blue:** What?!

 **ReDragon:** She wants me to invite you over for dinner.

Blue’s heart dropped. Was he _finally_ going to get to meet ReDragon?! He had only heard good things about his friend’s mom so he wasn’t worried about that. Besides, he still had his armor: the Oak name. Everyone in Pallet Town _loved_ him. But Blue also realized that he didn’t know _why_ he was worrying so much. It’s not like he was going over to meet the parents of someone he was dating, right?

Wait. Why was his heart racing so fast in his chest? Was he having a heart attack? Was it a mistake drinking his coffee this morning?

No…There’s no way…

Blue could _not_ have started to crush on ReDragon. That was _so_ not happening! Blue didn’t even know how the other kid looked like! What if he was ugly or disfigured or—

A part of Blue knew though that it didn’t matter. He really didn’t care how ReDragon looked or what people had to say about him. Over the month or so that they had been talking, Blue had seen the real beauty in ReDragon: his kindness, his honesty, his creativity, his resilience, and the fact that he actually _liked_ Blue (even if just as a friend).

**Blue:** Oh! I would be happy. But…does she know that we haven’t even met yet? We don’t even know each other’s names.

 **ReDragon:** That’s okay. She said it would be cool to be surprised.

 **Blue:** What if I’m hideous? Or a serial killer? Or a monster?

 **ReDragon:** I don’t care. Probably not. That would be cool.

 **Blue:** Wait, so your mom knows that you talked to some random stranger that you met on Poggo?

 **ReDragon:** She knows that we go to the same school.

 **Blue:** Well…okay, I can come over for dinner. On one condition.

 **ReDragon:** What?

 **Blue:** Can you trade me your shadow legendary fire dog?

 **ReDragon:** …I’ll think about it.

* * *

It was the day. Blue was nervous. He had even put some effort into his appearance. He made sure that his hair was combed thoroughly. He wore the fancy-but-not-too-fancy slacks that Daisy bought him last year. He had his favorite blue jacket over a black T-shirt. And to top it off—his lucky pendant.

ReDragon had given him his address and the time to come for dinner. Blue walked a few blocks until he reached the neighborhood. He tried to think—who lived here? He couldn’t identify _anyone_ who lived in these houses. He vaguely remembered seeing moving trucks in this neighborhood a few years ago—maybe back when he was in middle school.

Finally reaching the door, Blue held the gift he had carefully wrapped for ReDragon in his palm. One of the perks of his grandfather’s facility was its access to cutting-edge technology. Blue had flirted with one of his grandfather’s research assistants to let him use the 3D printer. While it was complicated to use at first, Blue finally figured out how to use it and upload a model. The result was honestly ugly—but Blue guessed/hoped that ReDragon would appreciate the gesture. It was a 3D model of the monster that ReDragon had drawn—called Charizard. It had large wings and a lizard-like face despite being all orange.

_Knock Knock_

Blue’s heart threatened to jump out of his chest as he heard movement from the other side of the door. Straightening his back, Blue put on his best smile as the door opened. The moment his brain processed exactly _who_ was standing in front of him—Blue’s jaw dropped.

“Red?!”

Like watching a leaf drown in a puddle of water, Red’s face lost its excitement and glow. Whatever curiosity Blue had seen in the taller boy’s brown eyes was replaced with a fiery glare It hit Blue in that moment: Red was _disappointed_ that Blue was standing here.

“Honey, is that your friend?! Bring him in! It’s cold outside!” Red’s mom called from the kitchen. Blue wasn’t sure if he should run back to his house or if he should just stand outside to freeze. Red seemed to have the same thoughts as he stared—no, glowered—at Blue. Finally, a smiling woman appeared by Red’s side and greeted Blue. Her young face and tied-back brown hair confirmed with Blue that she was Red’s mom.

“Oh come on in!” Delia, who had introduced herself, urged to Blue. Blue nodded as he wordlessly followed Delia into the family room. Red, as usual, was silent and did little to change the disgust on his face. If Delia noticed, she said nothing because she continued to prattle as if there wasn’t tension in the air. As Blue sat across from Red, he quietly placed the wrapped gift beside him on the table.

“I’m so happy to finally meet you! Red had talked a bit about you before!” Delia smiled as she led Blue to the living room. This finally broke Blue’s silence as he stared at the capped boy in front of him.

“He _talked_ about me?” Blue seemed aghast. Delia paused and stared at Red who finally stopped glaring and looked down at his feet. “Uh, that’s…really cool, man.” Whatever Red had expected Blue to say—clearly Blue finally managed to surprise the other kid.

“I’m really glad that you’re understanding.” Delia smiled as she wiped her hands on her apron. “Not many kids at school understand Red. The doctor says—what was it honey—oh right! An anxiety disorder.” Blue’s mouth dried as some red crept up Red’s face.

“It’s…not cool for people to make fun of someone for that.” Blue hoped his voice wouldn’t betray him. Based on the return of Red’s scowl, he guessed that maybe he said the wrong thing—again.

“Well, dinner’s almost ready! Red, didn’t you say that you wanted to show your friend your room?” Delia urged her son with a patient smile. When Red didn’t move at first, Blue bit his lip and thought about saying something. Delia, to her credit, continued to remain patient as she gently drew circles on Red’s shoulder. “I think Pikachu would love to meet your friend—Blue, was it?”

“Yes m’am.” Blue quickly responded. Red finally relented and motioned for Blue to follow him up the stairs. Once they were out of Delia’s view and about to enter Red’s room, Blue felt another rough push from the taller boy. Suddenly, Blue’s back was against a wall and Red was staring down at him, his lips quivering.

“I….” Blue truly was at a loss of words. He had never actually bothered to put a face on ReDragon’s—oh my god, Blue just realized that the username was _Red_ and _Dragon_. How oblivious was he!?

Red huffed before stomping into his room and grabbing a small whiteboard. Blue watched closely as Red wrote out some words on the white surface. The smell of the dry-erase marker reminded Blue of school—which only heightened the pace at which his heart raced.

_Is this a joke? Did the other kids put you up to this?_

Red looked at him and it finally dawned upon Blue that it wasn’t just anger in Red’s eyes—there was fear and anxiety and embarrassment.

“No.” Blue rubbed the back of his neck and looked anywhere but at Red’s face. He heard the familiar strokes of the marker against the whiteboard and before long, he was presented with another message.

_I hate you. You hate me._

Blue felt a growing pain spread across his chest. He didn’t hate Red—he hardly knew the kid! Although Blue did internally admit that he was no better than the other kids who just watched as other kids picked on Red.

“I don’t hate you. Dude, you’re my friend. My only friend.”

Red threw the whiteboard to the ground and covered his ears as if to stop Blue’s words from reaching them. It was only then that Blue noticed a plump mouse staring at him from the bed. If Blue could understand animals, he would guess that the mouse knew that Blue had somehow upset Red. Was this mouse going to attack him?

“Dude, come on, I—”

 _LIAR_. Red angrily scribbled on the whiteboard. Blue’s heart broke as he saw fresh tears running down Red’s face. The boy with the cap tried to use his wrists to wipe his eyes but it didn’t stop the crying. The rodent seemed to give Blue a glower similar to its owner before nuzzling Red’s arm with its nose. That seemed to calm Red down a bit as he plopped down to his bed. His eyes were still puffy and red and—oh god, Red’s mom was going to kill him for making her son cry.

“I…I guess you’re pretty fucking sad it’s me, right?” Blue leaned against the bedframe as he still avoided eye contact with the other boy. “I mean, that’s understandable. I’m definitely the disappointment of my family. I’m not as nice as my sister and I’m not as smart or accomplished as my gramps. Even worse, I’m gay. I’m lonely. And I’m one of the people who made your life hell, aren’t I?”

Red, despite his earlier outburst, was only trembling slightly. He did nod quickly before wiping his eyes again and looking away from Blue. It pained Blue so much that his _real_ friend had so much disgust in his eyes for Blue.

“Do you want me to leave? I…I can leave.” Blue lowered his voice, inwardly hoping that Red would say no. Maybe Red would forgive him. They would laugh about this in years to come.

Then, Red nodded. Blue’s heart completely shattered. Red hated him. Even Pikachu, the mouse or rat or whatever, was staring angrily at Blue as if accusing him of a million crimes. Blue waited just a few moments, hoping Red would change his mind. When Red’s body continued to shake with dry sobs, Blue decided that it was time for him to go.

Quietly stepping down the stairs, Blue carried around the stench of shame. Delia heard footsteps and looked understandably confused as Blue reached for his jacket. He glanced at the wrapped gift on the table before deciding to leave it there.

“Uh, I think I should go.” Blue whispered, not realizing that he was dangerously close to tears. Delia darted her eyes between Blue and the stairwell behind him, as if expecting an answer to appear in front of her. “I’m sure Red will tell you about it, but he probably needs…his mom right now. Pikachu’s doing most of the heavy lifting.”

Despite Delia’s confusion, she nodded and started to make her way up the stairs. Before she was completely gone from Blue’s view, he decided to say one last thing:

“Can you let him know that I’m honestly sorry? I really am. And I wish that it was anyone else but me.” Blue didn’t know how many of his words Delia heard but eventually, he shut the door behind him and walked home. The sky was brutally cold and mocking the unshed tears threatening to stain his face. For fucking sake—how fucking stupid was he?! No one would _ever_ want to actually be around him. He was the designer accessory that everyone wanted to carry around for status; it was the same accessory that would later be discarded without a second thought once a newer, shinier accessory was found.

As Blue reached his house, he took another breath. For once, he was glad that Gramps would leave him alone and that Daisy wasn’t home yet. He really just wanted to be alone. He couldn’t even bear himself to look at his computer or else memories of playing Colosseum would appear. Once Blue got ready for bed, he found his mind still racing. The _one_ good thing that had been going for him—his authentic friendship—was gone. All because of who he was.

As Blue turned to his side and moved his pillow around, he finally decided to grab his phone and read through his messages with _ReDragon_.

**Blue:** Would you ever run away again?

**ReDragon:** No.

**Blue:** Why the hell not?! This town sucks!

**ReDragon:** It does. But I have a friend in this town who is important to me.

**Blue:** You would stay for this one friend? This person must be the fucking king of the world to get you to stay in this town.

**ReDragon:** It’s you. You’re my friend. My only friend.

Blue didn’t notice when the tears started falling onto his pillow but he didn’t even try to stop them. He hated himself _so much_. Why was he like this? Why couldn’t he have the one thing he wanted so badly in his life? A friend—a _real_ friend who didn’t care about his last name or his reputation or his sexuality.

 _“Not many kids at school understand Red. The doctor says—what was it honey—oh right! An anxiety disorder.”_ Delia’s voice danced around Blue as if she was in the room, mocking him for his flaws. When he heard the recitation of her words for nearly the dozenth time, Blue suddenly realized what he had to do.

Red didn’t let the pain of the bullies get to him because he had to keep on going to feed Pikachu. Blue realized that’s what he had to do: he had to push through the pain, even if it hurt. He couldn’t just keep on shoving it away. He didn’t have a plump rodent to feed—but he had a friend that he wanted to keep.

With what he would later realize was a familial drive in his amber eyes, Blue grabbed his laptop and prepared an email to his AP psychology teacher. He was going to show Red that he was worthy of being Red’s friend. He was going to show everyone how great Red was. If he lost his social standing and ruined his family’s reputation—what did it matter when none of those things got him what he wanted in the first place?

Blue had always wondered if he could live up to the Oak family name. And the truth was? He couldn’t. He would have to create his own path—his own legacy. If Red could make it through school _every day_ with the support of his mom and his pet, then Blue could do this. Blue could face the judgmental light and stay away from the protection of the oak tree.

Blue Oak was going to win back his friendship with Red.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya boy got another exam on Monday and guess what he's doing Thursday night? If you didn't guess "writing ~20,000 words of nonsense" then you guessed wrong. 
> 
> Some warnings for this chapter: if any of the following topics make you feel deeply uncomfortable, then I would suggest taking some precautions before reading: bullying, homophobia, homophobic language, coming out, abused animals, incest, non-consensual groping, alcohol use, boys kissing, references to marijuana/drugs/parties, self-hatred, anxiety, rumination, etc.
> 
> Nothing is super explicit, I think. But yeah--hope y'all enjoy my first stab into the Reguri fandom!

_“Yes! We’re in Blue’s group for the science fair! My dad said he’ll buy me a new iPod if we place in the top three presentations! With Blue’s grandfather’s lab, we’re so gonna win!”_

Blue started shivering underneath the umbrage of the large oak tree. He could see the bright sun at the edge of the shadow’s corners. But it was so cold. So cold. He looked again at the light dancing flirtatiously around the silhouette like it was trying to seduce him. The oak tree was stern and firm—but it was safe, right? That’s what the oak tree was supposed to do…right?

_“Fuck! There’s a cop asking what that smell is. Blue—can you try to sweet-talk him? I’m sure if he knows who your grandfather is, he’ll leave us alone.”_

Blue felt the snowy tongue of winter striking at his bare skin. He wasn’t naked—but he felt like he was unclothed. There was no snow around him, but the tips of his fingers and toes became numb over time. The cold was like a wafting perfume suffocating him.

_“Blue, you’re so perfect for helping make him jealous. With you around me, guys feel so threatened. That’s what he gets for dumping me.”_

It was painful. It was like the shadows wanted to swallow him. If he asked nicely, they wouldn’t listen. If he asserted himself, their attacks only became more vengeful. It was like he was in quicksand. A snowy, frigid tundra that was draining him.

_“Your sister’s off in college right? And your grandfather’s never home, right? Let’s try this new strain out at your place.”_

It was like these voices were birds flying in the air. Blue didn’t want them to come closer. But they hovered around the branches of the oak tree like it was their home. But wasn’t this his home?! Wasn’t he supposed to be safe underneath the tree? Why was he so anxious?

_“Bro, what are you? A pussy? Come on, let’s throw this kid’s backpack into the puddle by the courtyard. That’s what he’ll get for not letting us copy his homework answers. Fucking fag.”_

Blue wanted the feelings to stop. He would rather feel nothing at all than feel all of this pain. It was drenching him with stinging rain. It was suffocating him, siphoning all the air from his lungs. Everything felt like it was on fire—but instead of being warm and comforting—the fire was cold and unforgiving.

_“Blue you didn’t tell me that your sister was a fucking smokeshow. Is she single? Why are you glaring at me like that? Bro—it’s a dog eat dog world. I’m a hunter and I gotta prowl.”_

For a moment, it felt like Daisy and Professor Oak were extending their hands to save Blue from this deluge of ice. But their faces disappeared into the shadows—much like a vacuum clearing up dust. It was lonely. He wanted to scream but nothing could come out. The birds continued to flock around the tree. They pecked at the tree and ignored its screams as they stole leaves, wood, and branches. The tree would regrow but it was never strong enough. The only constant it could provide was that cold, cold, cold shade.

* * *

“Blue, I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised to get your email.” Professor Augustine Sycamore scratched the bottom of his chin. “I mean, you’re a good student. But I was always hesitant on reaching out since—”

“Yeah, I heard Gramps doesn’t call your work real science.” Blue rolled his eyes. “Something about the hard sciences versus the soft sciences. I dunno. I don’t really get him when he starts going off.” The 17-year-old brown-haired student leaned against the edge of a desk as he waited for his AP psychology teacher to respond to his query. The haunting image of Red’s reaction to him still was etched into Blue’s memory.

_Is this a joke? Did the other kids put you up to this?_

“That’s Samuel Oak, for you.” Professor Sycamore chuckled. He rubbed his hands together as he re-opened Blue’s email on his computer. The psychologist took a few moments to refresh his memory on what _exactly_ Blue was asking of him. Blue—to his credit—had drafted the email in an emotional haze. The rejection still stung from Red. It certainly didn’t help Blue feel much better that Brian joked about the “mute” skipping school today. Was it because of him? Oh who was he kidding—of course it was because of him.

“You want me to…give you an extra lecture on something?” Professor Sycamore joshed. “But not anything that’ll raise your grade?” The older man’s black curls slightly bounced as he spoke. Even when he delivered his lectures—Blue respected how passionate the professor was about psychology.

“I already have an A in your class.” Blue bragged as he tapped his fingers on the surface of the desk behind him. “But yeah, that’s the gist of it. I want to learn more about psychology.” It wasn’t a complete lie, after all. Blue admired Professor Sycamore’s work. He had completed his doctoral dissertation at a university in Lumiose City. It was something about the bonds between people and how that relationship can strengthen the dyad. Blue truthfully didn’t understand a lot of it, but he had managed to find a copy of it online.

“I wonder what sparked your interest in selective mutism.” Professor Sycamore’s eyes twinkled as if he knew the answer. Blue caught his breath in his throat. Did Professor Sycamore even know who Red was? Come to think of it—Blue didn’t even know what classes Red took.

“Uh, just something I read about on Poggo.” Blue sheepishly grinned, hoping his admission of being on the online community would stir away any ulterior motives that Professor Sycamore suspected.

“I can tell you what I know about the disorder, although it’s not my specialty.” Professor Sycamore motioned for Blue to take a seat across from him at the desk. Blue moved quickly to take a seat. From his backpack, he withdrew a notebook. Professor Sycamore noticed the notebook and the pen in Blue’s grasp but he didn’t acknowledge it with anything other than a smile.

“Selective mutism is a rare childhood disorder. It’s characterized by a lack of speech in one or more settings where we typically expect people to speak. Like school, for example.” Professor Sycamore started, using his hands to emphasize certain words. Blue scribbled as fast as he could, feeling like he was back in class again. The high-school student was grateful that he and Professor Sycamore were meeting after school had ended for the day. He wasn’t sure how he would explain it to any of his friends.

“Wait, so people with the disorder can talk?” Blue seemed confused. “But not in certain places?” As he asked that question, it dawned upon him what Red’s mother had said to him: _“I’m so happy to finally meet you! Red had talked a bit about you before!”_

“That’s right.” Professor Sycamore affirmed.

“It’s an anxiety disorder, right?” Blue beamed, remembering what Delia had said in their brief time meeting. Professor Sycamore continued to validate Blue’s claims as he explained that the disorder was technically categorized under anxiety disorders. “What causes them to not talk to anyone?”

“That’s a good question, Blue.” Professor Sycamore started. “To be quite honest with you, there’s not really a clear answer. It’s not like having the flu and knowing that it was caused by a certain virus. There are some theories that include unresolved psychic conflicts, genetics, trauma, maladaptive family dynamics, dysfunctional reinforcements, or whatever else. It’s actually still being studied even today.”

“I thought we knew everything there was.” Blue joked, doing his best to mimic his grandfather’s pompous expression.

“I’m sure Samuel says that about his field.” Professor Sycamore laughed before continuing onward with his explanation of the disorder. “The best and worst part about behavioral sciences like psychology is that there’s still so much to discover. That’s exciting but it can also feel overwhelming.”

“Uh-huh.” Blue chewed the tip of his pen before asking his next question. “How do I—or sorry, how does someone cure it?” Maybe if he could cure Red—he could show Red that he was genuinely a good guy behind the caricature that he portrayed. His question, however, didn’t seem to go well with Professor Sycamore who stopped smiling.

“Blue,” Professor Sycamore lowered his voice, “I want to make it very clear that psychological disorders like selective mutism are not a disease that need to be cured. There are people in the world who truly believe that and want to look for a cure. But that dehumanizes people—yes, it’s a difficulty for them, but it’s still a part of who they are. And they are no less than someone else.”

“Oh.” Blue looked down at his notebook, dejected that his idea of curing Red was already dashed. But what Professor Sycamore said did make sense: when they communicated on Poggo and even through texting—there was nothing wrong with Red. It made Blue start to feel a deeper pit in his stomach as he realized that people like his “friends” were the ones who made people like Red feel like they were abnormal or broken. “Um, hypothetically, if I wanted to help someone with this disorder what would I do?”

“That’s an interesting question.” Professor Sycamore’s smile easily returned as if it had never left. “There are ideas still being investigated. But I can share with you what I was taught during my clinical externship.” Blue nodded eagerly at this as he turned the page in his notebook to start taking notes.

“Support.” Professor Sycamore said before pausing. Blue wondered if he was going to say anything else but when it was clear that the black-haired man wasn’t going to continue, Blue cleared his throat.

“What do you mean?” Blue asked.

“In this hypothetical situation, the best thing you can do Is to support this person. Let them know that it’s okay for them to be them. Don’t force them to do something that they’re not comfortable doing. Give them space when they feel like they need it.” Professor Sycamore turned his eyes directly on Blue as if trying to read his mind. “Some people ultimately decide to seek out therapy or see a physician but that’s entirely their choice. Everyone is different.”

“Okay.” Blue was a bit stunned, not really sure how to process those words. His brain was definitely processing _something,_ but he wasn’t sure how to take his next step. Would he need to apologize to Red? He was sure that Red probably didn’t want to see him. Should he try texting Red? Maybe messaging him on Poggo?

“Hey, Blue.” Professor Sycamore had already started collecting his belongings while Blue ruminated. “I can’t say I know why you’re asking about this. But if you are doing it to help support someone, then trust me when I say that your intentions and attempts will likely be a relief to them.”

“Sure.” Blue scratched the back of his head. He didn’t want to correct Professor Sycamore and tell him that whenever _he_ got involved, he made things worse.

“If you have any other questions, you’re always welcome to chat with me. Shall we head out then?” Professor Sycamore nodded toward the door as Blue packed up his stuff. As he packed away his notebook, an idea suddenly struck him: he could leave another gift for Red!

* * *

_Knock Knock_

Blue nervously stood outside of Red’s home. He heard some shuffling from the other side, indicating that at least someone was home. Unsurprisingly, Delia opened the door and had a puzzled look on her face. When she took in that it was _Blue_ standing in front of her, Delia’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Blue.” Delia lowered her voice. “I don’t know if Red is ready to—”

“Hey, it’s okay!” Blue raised his hands as if waving a white flag. “I don’t want to overwhelm him. I just wanted to leave a gift for him. I dunno if he opened my other gift but you can give him both, if that’s okay.”

“A gift?” Delia truly seemed perplexed. “Why do you have another gift for him?”

“Um.” Blue looked down, suddenly finding his shoes really interesting. “I dunno how much you know, but Red’s not happy with me. But I want to show him that he is my friend. O-Or at least I consider him one, even if he doesn’t see me as a friend.” Was he rambling? He was _definitely_ rambling. Fortunately, Delia took some pity on him and held her hand out for Blue to give her the package.

“This is for him. I want him to know that I don’t care if he talks or not. But he can always use this to communicate with someone if he ever needs to.” It was a blank notebook. Blue had specifically looked for it at the mall. It had a dragon-skin like design on the outside of the notebook and even the lined pages inside the journal had little dragon-like images at the corners.

“Oh.” Delia paused. “This is very sweet, Blue, but…I think Red already has a whiteboard and a few sketchbooks for this.” Blue’s heart sunk and he inwardly cursed himself: how could he be so dumb and think that Red wouldn’t have thought of this?!

“I…” Blue was uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

“Honey, I will give Red this gift.” Delia promised with a warm smile on her face She thought for a few moments before her smile flattened. “He told me a bit about why he was disappointed to see you. And I just want to make it clear that if I discover that this is indeed some type of prank from you or your friends—”

“I promise!” Blue yelped, unintentionally raising his voice. “I promise it’s not a prank. I know it’s hard to believe cause I’m me but I actually think Red’s a cool guy. He has a super creative mind. He’s actually easy to talk to or maybe I just talk too much but I think people don’t give him a chance and he—”

“Blue.” Delia’s smile returned. “I do believe you. I just have to do my duty as his mom.” Blue felt some relief bloom in his chest as he replaced his quivering lips with his trademark smirk. Blue exchanged his farewell with Red’s mom before making it back home. He wouldn’t deny that there was this odd feeling of warmth as he stepped away from the shade created by the house. For the first time since the disastrous dinner that actually never happened Blue started to feel like maybe he wasn’t the worst person in the world.

* * *

Winter break had officially started. Blue had been a bit dismayed that he hadn’t seen Red at school or even heard from the other kid. His distracted mind had been, unfortunately, noticed by his friends. Jocelyn continued to grow angry whenever Brian or Rick joked that Blue was thinking about his girlfriend in Viridian City. Brittany and Joanna just seemed uncomfortable whenever Jocelyn was upset.

To celebrate the start of winter break, Joanna was throwing a party. Her parents had to travel to Pewter City to see some relatives and they trusted her to be okay for the weekend. Blue was torn between looking forward to some alcohol to numb his racing thoughts and being deathly afraid that he would get too emotional while drunk. Daisy was coming home, too, so Blue figured that he had an escape route if he got _too_ drunk. Daisy would be annoyed, but she would never turn down an opportunity to help Blue. After all: he was Blue Oak and they had to protect the precious Oak reputation.

As Blue left his house to walk over to Joanna’s house, he shivered in the cold wind. Unfortunately, on his way to Joanna’s house, he had to pass by Red’s neighborhood. Blue wasn’t sure if it was his feet moving on their own or if something else was pushing him forward but eventually, he found himself farther from Joanna’s house and closer to Red’s house. He was shivering by now since he had clearly brought the wrong jacket. Quickly deciding that this was a dumb idea—because Red would reach out when he was ready—Blue almost pivoted his heel to turn around when the Pallet Pizza car drove by him. It didn’t escape Blue’s notice that the driver parked right outside of Red’s house and started to carry two boxes of pizza to the capped man’s door.

From a distance, Blue watched wordlessly as Red opened the door. He quickly took the pizzas and waved to the girl. She waved back, brushing back her long brown hair, before hurrying back to her delivery vehicle. She seemed oddly familiar but Blue’s attention was more on the blank-faced boy at the door. Was Red home alone? Was his mom not around? Was he being too creepy? Before Blue could _really_ process these questions, he found himself standing right outside Red’s door again.

_Knock Knock_

Blue heard some shuffling as his heart started to race. Red was going to open that door. Red was going to see him. He was going to see Red. What was he going to say? Fuck, maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should leave before Red opens the—

“Hey!” Blue weakly waved as Red swung open the door and quickly replaced his look of confusion with a look of anger. Red took a step forward to look around, as if expecting Blue’s band of friends to be around with their phones and cameras. When Red didn’t see anyone he took a step back but still blocked the entrance.

“I…uh, wanted to see if your mom gave you the gifts.” Blue shivered slightly. Red’s face was impassive—besides the obvious annoyance. “I-I saw the notebook and thought of that cool pocket monster you drew. I think its name was Charizard. T-That’s also the thing I got printed at Gramp’s lab. T-They have a 3D printer and—fuck, it’s cold.” Blue panted as a wave of shivers overtook his body. It then dawned on him that Red was in a casual T-shirt and some jeans and didn’t seem to be freezing at all. He knew that Red was about to probably close the door and he could just warm up with a shot of whisky at Joanna’s party.

Suddenly, Red moved and held the door open. It took Blue a moment to realize that _Red_ was _inviting_ him inside! Shuffling his feet, Blue gratefully stepped inside as Red closed the door behind him. The house was definitely quiet which only validated his thoughts about Delia not being home. She probably left money for Red to order food or something.

“What kinda toppings did you get?” Blue asked. Red looked at him before opening a box and grabbing a slice of pepperoni pizza. Blue wasn’t surprised that Red didn’t offer him a slice—but he was surprised when Red pointed to the loveseat near Blue. Without a moment’s hesitation, Blue took a seat on the chair. Red finished his slice of pizza before running upstairs. The anxiety started to kick-in for Blue again as he wondered if Red was just torturing him by leaving him alone. Maybe he was pranking Blue?

_No._ Blue thought to himself. _Red is a better person than me._

Soon enough, Red’s footsteps echoed down into the living room. The teenager’s trademark red cap was still firmly placed on his head but that’s not what caught Blue’s eye: it was the dragon-scaled notebook that he had bought for Red! Red walked toward Blue and seemed to hesitate before thrusting the notebook at Blue for him to take.

“W-Wait…do you not want it?” Blue’s lips went dry. Red shook his head and motioned for Blue to take the notebook. After Blue took it, Red grabbed another slice of pizza before plopping down on the seat across from Blue. The two teenagers stared at each other—well, really more like Blue staring at Red eating pizza—until Red noticed and started to blush a bit. Blue immediately cleared his throat and looked away at any other thing _but_ Red’s face.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Red was making some motions with his hands. Looking back at Red, it looked like the teen wanted Blue to open the notebook. His hands trembling, Blue agreed. What if Red had filled it already with paragraphs on paragraphs of hate about Blue?

_Blue. I hate him. He gave me false hope. I finally thought I had found a friend. Someone who liked talking to me. Someone who liked my drawings of those monsters. It was different than talking to people on Poggo. BlueTurtle was someone in Pallet Town._

Blue flipped to the next page, his hands still trembling.

_He gave me this notebook. I didn’t want to write in it but mom said that it might help me feel better. She said that Blue seemed nervous when he gave it to her. Maybe he felt bad about something?_

When Blue flipped to the next page, it was blank. That was all Red had written. Why did he want him to read it?

“Bro, I did feel bad.” Blue whispered. Red continued peering at Blue, as if looking straight past him. “Red, I—I know you were expecting this real friend. The thing is that you were a real friend for me.” Red scratched the bottom of his chin before taking the notebook from Blue. Pulling a pen from his pocket, Red started to write something in the blank pages. After a minute or so, he handed the notebook back to Blue.

_You already have friends. They hate me._

“They’re dumb, okay?” Blue hissed as he ran a hand through his hair. “They’re stupid and idiotic. They’re just like everyone else in this town. You know what’s so fucked up? They all basically buried themselves away just to seem cool. “Jocelyn loved birds. Brian tried to keep pet worms until his mom told him to stop. Rick liked caterpillars and would scare the girls with his collection. Joanna has a pet rat—like you—but she feels like she has to pretend to hate it because it’s not cool. And Brittany once dyed her rabbit’s fur blue so it would become a queen or something.” Red looked like he was struggling to keep his jaw from dropping. Blue guessed that Red probably believed that Blue’s friends didn’t actually have souls. When Red took back the notebook and handed it back to Blue, he didn’t expect to see what Red had asked:

_What did you bury?_

“Myself.” Blue confessed. “Everything about me, man. I’m Blue Oak—the stud of Pallet Town. Jocelyn’s like throwing herself at me and she’s one of the hottest girls at our school. But I don’t feel _anything_ toward her. I’m the professor’s grandson and I’m supposed to be the next big scientist. I don’t even fucking like science that much. I would rather do stuff like Professor Sycamore.”

_That sounds miserable._

“It is.” Blue sighed. “Look, I have to be real here, dude. I don’t want you to pity me. I don’t deserve it. I should have stood up for you whenever they picked on you. I shouldn’t have said shit about you that I did. I only did it because that’s what I felt like I had to do.”

_Yes, you should have._

“Yeah.” Blue’s lips went dry again. “I want to be better. And y’know, ever since we started talking on Poggo, I kinda felt like I was being better. Or at least I finally felt like I didn’t have to be someone to impress you. I could be myself. I could talk about cute or badass animals. I could talk about how much I can’t wait to leave this town. You also didn’t know who I was. It was great. Until I revealed myself and ruined everything.”

Red didn’t write anything as he stared at Blue. The other teen looked down at his shoes, shame filling his bones.

“I don’t blame you for hating me.” Blue confessed. “I hate myself, too.” That finally got a reply from Red who took back the notebook and scribbled.

_Why? Your life almost seems perfect. Everyone thinks you’re the smartest kid in school. You have a lot of friends. People talk about how much they want to be friends with you and how your connections could help them._

“That’s the fucking problem, dude!” Blue leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “They _think_ they want to be friends with me. Dude, you’re so much cooler than me in a hundred ways. You fucking rock at Colosseum. Your mom is sweet. You don’t even care that I’m gay. Brian and Rick would like never talk to me again if they knew. You know that kid, Joey? They make so much fun of him because of those short shorts he wore. Called him a ‘fag’ and shit. And I just stood there and let them do it.”

_My therapist says that pain and trauma are healed by safe relationships._

“You have a therapist?” Blue looked up after reading Red’s writing. “Man, I should get one.” Red stroked his chin for a moment with the pen before grabbing the notebook again.

_I never had a safe friendship. The only person who is really nice to me other than my mom is Leaf who delivers pizza. Everyone avoids me at school because I can’t talk. And I think they think that if they talk to me then your friends will target them too._

“That’s not…fair, dude.” Blue tried to pick his words carefully. “I mean, I whine about my shit but you’ve literally been alone.”

_It sucks_.

“I’m sure it does!” Blue shook his head. His stomach grumbled, but he didn’t want to ask the question lingering on his mind. Well, there was a _few_ questions on his mind. “You know, I heard in Alola, they have like a lot of policies to help people with selective mutism and shit. We should like go there or something. It’s also like sunny all the time.”

_How do you know?_

Blue blushed and looked away again. Tugging at his collar, he finally mustered the courage to look at Red who actually seemed intrigued.

“I…looked it up.” Blue admitted. “After, uh, the dinner. I got a clue from your mom and then I wanted to understand you better. Sorry if that’s kinda weird.”

_It’s not. Thank you._

“Yeah…hey, I should be thanking you for even listening to me. I know it doesn’t mean that we’re friends again or anything but you know, I could _really_ use your help against this boss in Colosseum.” Blue wiggled his eyebrows playfully as if hoping that Red would fall for his bait. Red, thankfully, smiled and tugged at his cap a bit.

_We can play a bit after dinner. Want a slice of pizza?_

“Oh gosh, I thought you would _never_ ask.” Blue whined. “Please and thank you!” Red simply handed him a slice of pizza without a plate as they made their way up to Red’s room. Pikachu noticed Blue and seemed hesitant about welcoming him. When Red scratched behind the rat’s ears, Pikachu calmed down and even moved closer to Blue despite staying by Red’s side.

“Hey.” Blue finally asked the question on his mind as Red booted up his computer. “What made you decide to finally hear me out?” Red paused for a moment before he grabbed his whiteboard and wrote some words on it.

_My therapist told me that one of his students was suddenly interested in learning more about selective mutism. You might know my therapist. His name is Dr. Sycamore._

Blue’s jaw dropped as he remembered the twinkle in Professor Sycamore’s eyes. A blush crept up Blue’s face as it hit him that they probably talked about Blue in Red’s therapy sessions. Did that mean Professor Sycamore knew the whole time _why_ Blue was asking those questions?!

“Huh.” Blue finally found his words. “He’s my AP psychology teacher. Small world.” Red shot him a small, knowing smile before they started navigating a dungeon in the game.

* * *

Blue eagerly waited in the school’s parking lot. Winter break had flown by like a bird migrating toward the warmth. Blue had actually _enjoyed_ his winter break: he spent most of it playing games with Red online. They didn’t always talk—well, Blue did a lot of the talking for them. But Red didn’t have the same look of disgust in his eyes when he looked at Blue. And somehow—that lack of disgust made Blue feel like he was less of a monster.

A few days before school had started, Red seemed really nervous around Blue. When Blue finally asked him about it (after all—Red usually carries their team in raids and when Blue’s the sole surviving member of the team, there’s an issue), Red confessed that he’s worried about school starting again. Blue read in-between the lines and knew what Red was referring to: the bullies, the gossip, and the alienation. Blue wasn’t excited for school to start again but it would be nice to be away from the constant disapproving gaze of Professor Oak. The gaze only deepened when Daisy would talk about how well she did in her college courses and how she was emulating the _perfect_ Oak academic tradition.

But Blue had been surprised to realize that there was also something else on Red’s mind when Blue promised that he would help Red.

_Will you still talk to me when school starts again?_

“Hell yes, dude.” Blue had nodded fervently. “This is a new year and a new me. The school won’t even know what them when we show off our kickassness.”

Blue wished that he could somehow go back in time and borrow some of that confidence that he had displayed then. He nervously tapped his foot as he waited for Delia to drop Red off to school. He had promised that he wouldn’t walk into the school until Red was by his side. Red seemed to think Blue was joking until he firmly reminded Red of his promise the night before classes resumed.

Finally, Red appeared from his mom’s car and slowly walked toward Blue. He held onto his backpack straps as if they were his only anchor against the crashing waves of high school. The way Red approached him made Blue feel like a deer—as if he would run at the slightest provocation from Red. Blue steeled his eyes toward Red and planted his heels firmly on the ground as if to assure his friend that he wasn’t going to abandon him.

“Man, you walk slower than a turtle. And I should know since I like turtles.” Blue winked as he motioned Red to follow him. As they walked through the hallway, Blue wasn’t sure if it was his anxiety spiking or if people were actually glancing at the two teens. His heart only continued to beat violently against his chest as he approached the familiar location in the hallway. True to their patterns, his friends were gathered by their usual spot. Jocelyn was the first to see him and run over.

“Blue!” Jocelyn ran forward to embrace Blue. “We missed you! You like totally went missing during break!” Joanna was quick to follow Jocelyn’s steps as she approached Blue.

“Yeah! You never showed up to the party!” Joanna pouted. “I know it was the week before Christmas, but you couldn’t have been that busy.” From behind him, Blue heard some shuffling from Red. He tried to keep his face from burning since he could _feel_ Red’s look at him as the capped teen put the information together: Blue had skipped Joanna’s party to hang out with Red.

“Yeah, sorry, I was busy.” Blue smirked. “I’m sure there’ll be more parties in the future. Unless Brian’s liver finally decided to give up.”

“Hey, why is the mute standing behind you like a fucking serial killer?” Rick clicked his tongue, finally bringing everyone’s attention to Red. Blue glanced behind his back and saw Red holding onto his backpack straps. The way that Red looked down on the ground—as if knowing that Blue was about to abandon him—only fueled the confidence in Blue’s chest.

“Whoa, he has a name, Rick. It’s Red.” Blue narrowed his eyes. With everyone’s eyes on him, Blue made a motion to clap Red’s shoulder with his palm. He tried to hide it, but he didn’t realize that Red’s shoulder was _surprisingly_ hard and…muscular? “Ease off on him, okay? He’s my friend.”

There was a pregnant pause as the seven students stood around each other. Blue’s eyes darted from Red to his friends, back and forth, until someone finally spoke up.

“Oh my god, sure!” Brittany’s eyes gleamed dangerously. “Red’s like, totally our best friend.” Joanna and Jocelyn giggled beside the other lass.

“This isn’t a joke.” Blue crossed his arms against his chest. “Red is my friend. I’m not joking.”

“Is this your community service project?” Brian asked with wide eyes. Rick said nothing but his twisted mouth and crinkled nose gave Blue the answer he knew.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? No!” Blue raised his voice. “Red is my friend and from this day forward, I don’t want to see any of you guys mess with him.” Red trembled near him, his anxiety clearly emanating from his body. 

“Whatever. We got class.” Jocelyn scoffed. The other students didn’t say anything as they followed her lead and walked away from Blue. He wasn’t sure where they were going, but he could tell that at least they wouldn’t be trash-talking Red: they would be trash-talking him.

“Hey, that wasn’t so bad, right?” Blue grinned. Red cocked an eyebrow, as if asking Blue what his definition of “bad” was. “Wanna walk me to class or something?” Red shrugged as he followed Blue’s lead to class. Even if people were wondering why _Blue Oak_ was with the quiet Red—Blue didn’t care. With Red by his side, he felt stronger than ever.

* * *

_“Hey Blue! For your birthday party, we should do a massive beer pong tournament. What do you mean that you don’t like beer? Bro it’s so that the girls get drunk. Makes everything easier that way.”_

* * *

Blue had calculus with Joanna and Brittany which he was grateful for since—between the three of them—they could usually figure out some of the complicated problems. When Blue got to his desk besides the girls, he greeted them as he sat down.

“So what was that all about this morning?” Brittany leaned forward. “Do you want us to like pretend to like him or something?” Blue wasn’t sure why Brittany was avoiding using Red’s name as if it was a contagious particle that would get her sick.

“No!” Blue pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, Red and I are friends now. He’s a cool guy if you get to know him.”

“He draws monsters in his free time, Blue.” Joanna giggled. “Someone sent Jocelyn pictures they took of his homework. He’s like a fucking man-child.”

“That’s funny because I think his pet rat would get along with yours, Joanna.” Blue’s tone became icy although he kept his smile plastered on his face. Joanna fidgeted as she leaned back in her chair and pulled out her book.

“Blue, I’m being completely serious, okay? Are you like okay?” Brittany narrowed her eyes. “You avoided us all winter. Ignored all of our texts. Even when we needed you to bail us out from Brian’s dad when he found the bong. Then you like walk into school with the mute—”

“His name is Red.”

“Whatever, you walk in with Orange—”

“Red.”

“Blue, what the fuck?!” Brittany hissed under her breath. “Why are you being so defensive of him?”

“Why can’t you guys understand that maybe I have friends outside of our group?” Blue protested. “It’s literally not that hard to understand.” Their conversation was cut short when the teacher handed out worksheets on integrals and antiderivatives. Joanna and Brittany seemed affronted and were unusually quiet as the trio worked on the worksheet together. They were working on antiderivatives which weren’t _too_ complicated—as least compared to the first semester that focused on derivatives.

“Blue.” Joanna kept her voice as quiet as possible. “Is your gramps making you do this? We’ll like play along, too. But if he starts hanging around us, then people are gonna think we’re as weird as him. We definitely won’t be getting invites to any Viridian parties.”

“No.” Blue was about to say more but decided to wait as he processed his words. “Gramps can’t force me to do shit, okay? Red and I started playing some game together and—”

“You play a game with him?” Brittany lamely tried to stifle her giggles. “Is this some creepy hentai game? Oh god, what if he’s gay for you Blue? Jocelyn would murder him in a heartbeat.” Before Blue could reply with a scathing remark about how Jocelyn cried whenever her hair was tangled, his calculus teacher came to his rescue by asking to see how the worksheet was coming along. Once the teacher walked away from the trio, they fell back into an awkward silence that made Blue’s shoulders feel unusually heavy. 

* * *

_“Why are you freaking out Blue? It’s not a big deal. Jocelyn was happy to know that you hadn’t fucked any of the Viridian girls yet. It's not like I actually broke the promise to keep it a secret.”_

_“Dude, calm the fuck down. I’m sorry if your little pussy feelings got hurt but it was a fucking wingman move, okay?”_

* * *

“Bro!” Brian’s voice called out to Blue as he walked into chemistry. “My dad wanted me to ask you something.” Blue was surprised with how _normal_ Brian was acting compared to everyone else so he went along with it and asked what Brian’s dad needed.

“He wanted to know if your grandfather had time to look at my application.” Brian grinned. Arching an eyebrow, Blue asked what Brian was talking about.

“Dude, your grandfather’s opening up a position for the summer research internship program in his lab! I told my dad that you would be able to get the position for me without breaking a sweat.” Brian appealed. Right. The hallmark of Pallet Town: the summer research internship program. There were a few agriculture labs and some fishing stations that studied marine life. But everyone knew that the top lab in Pallet Town was Professor Samuel Oak’s lab.

After all, Daisy did her summer research internship for their grandfather. Her work was presented at some national conference. The college admissions committee probably fought over her. Anything with the “Oak” name was like a golden ticket to the most prestigious academic institutions. Truth be told, however, Blue had completely forgotten about the program. He had been so caught up hanging out with Red that the fear of having to work with his gramps was buried away.

“Uh, I mean, I can try to put in a good word for you.” Blue shrugged. “Gramps doesn’t usually always listen to me.”

“Then what good is it being friends with his grandson if I can’t even use him to get in?” Brian laughed. For some reason, the joke tasted sour in Blue’s tongue as he faked laughter.

“Hey, Brian.” Blue scratched his chin. “Do you remember your worm collection? That shit was so cool—”

“Blue, the fuck are you even talking about?” Brian hissed despite Blue’s attempt at a warm smile. When Blue seemed confused, Brian lowered his voice and looked around as if there was a group of people ready to laugh at him. “Don’t remind me of that.”

“Why? I thought it was cool. Maybe I could mention it to Gramps—”

“Bro, I will literally run you over if you tell your grandfather that I collected worms.” Brian groaned as he threw his head into his arms.

“Brian, I’m being completely serious—”

“Quit it.” Brian threatened. “I’m serious.” Blue sighed before turning back to his desk.

* * *

_“Blue! What the fuck man?! Why did you have to score the winning shot when I was fucking open! You get everything you fucking want thanks to your gramps—why can’t you let me have this?”_

* * *

“Blue, can I speak with you for a moment?” Professor Sycamore beckoned Blue over to his desk as the bell rang to dismiss the rest of the students. Blue wondered if the psychologist was going to mention Red at all—or if he should bring it up at all. Maybe it was against some privacy laws.

“I was wondering,” Professor Sycamore pulled out a piece of paper from his bag and handed it to Blue, “if you would be interested in doing some research in my lab this summer.”

“You’re participating in the summer research internship program?!” Blue couldn’t hide his grin.

“Yup.” Professor Sycamore leaned back in his chair, holding his head against his hands. “You’re one of my top students and you seem to be interested in the field. I was hesitant on opening up a position since a lot of students here seem more interested in doing research for their college applications rather than actually learning the whole process.”

“Hey, I bet your work is a lot more interesting than whatever Gramps looks at. I would rather deal with people than test tubes and microscopes any day.” Blue admitted. 

“You don’t have to pick my lab, necessarily. There are a few other behavioral researchers in the program. But I think you would be great in helping me do some research on the strength of bonds and how social support can help improve symptoms of psychopathology.” There was that knowing twinkle in Professor Sycamore’s eyes and Blue could guess _why_ Professor Sycamore thought Blue would be good at that specific subject.

“I’ll consider it.” Blue nodded as he stuffed the paper in his bag. “Smell ya later, Professor Sycamore!” It was finally time for lunch. Despite the grumbling in his stomach, Blue didn’t walk straight toward the cafeteria. Instead, he made his way toward Red’s locker. Fulfilling his promise, Blue was going to wait for Red to have lunch with him. He was shocked, however, to hear his name being called out by someone unfamiliar. Turning around, Blue was surprised to see the pizza delivery girl from a few weeks ago—the day he and Red hung out when he bailed on Jocelyn’s party.

“Blue, right?” The girl played with the ends of her long brown hair. She had on a cap although it seemed more like a beret or something. “I’m Leaf. Hi!”

“Hey!” Blue smirked. “What’s up?”

“Wow, okay, I didn’t think you would actually respond. Look, um, I had a small favor to ask, if that’s okay.” Leaf’s eyes darted from Blue to something behind him. When Blue glanced behind his shoulder, he saw Red moving some stuff from his locker into his backpack. “I know you’re probably busy getting lunch with the rest of the other—”

“What do ya need?” Blue cocked his head. Not that he was trying to be impatient, but the lunch block was only so long and he wanted to discuss a raid strategy with Red.

“I was wondering if you could ask Red if he wanted to have lunch with me.” Leaf’s face turned red as she looked away. “I’m sorta friends with him, and he always looks so alone, but I don’t know if he even remembers that I deliver his pizza—”

“Oh, he remembers.” Blue winked. “You got the hots for him or something?” There was this burrowing feeling that appeared in Blue’s chest as he asked that question which was odd. Why did it matter if Leaf wanted Red? Maybe he could play cupid for them—although the thought of that only made Blue feel a bit more nauseous.

“No!” Leaf nearly screamed until a passing teacher glared at him. “I just—some kids were talking about how you and him were hanging out before classes today and so I thought I could ask you to help me. Ugh, maybe Kris was right this was a bad idea asking you. Nevermind—”

“Wait, why did you think it was a bad idea to ask me?” Blue genuinely was confused by the rambling of the pizza delivery girl. “You said something earlier about how you thought I wouldn’t even respond to you.”

“You’re _Blue Oak_.” Leaf straightened her back.

“I know my name but that doesn’t answer my question.” Blue snapped.

“Everyone knows how you roll.” Leaf almost sounded like she was accusing Blue of something. “You walk around like you’re better than everyone. I mean, I guess if my grandfather was a famous researcher I might do that, too. But you’re also, um, well you have this reputation…”

“Reputation?”

“Of being an asshole.” Leaf blushed again. “Kris told me that like you and your friends made her cry in middle school once for wearing this hat.” Blue didn’t remember anything like that but the sad truth was that Leaf was probably telling the truth.

“Yeah…I can be a jerk.” Blue muttered.

“Yeah, like some people are saying that you’re cheating on Jocelyn with Joanna—”

“I’m _what_ now?” Blue asked incredulously.

“Well, someone told Kris’s friend who told her that like you were hooking up with Joanna and then you left her to go hook up with Jocelyn but they don’t know about it and—”

“That’s quite literally not the case.” Blue exhaled sharply. “How many rumors about me are there?”

“Uh…” Leaf looked away. “I mean, honestly, have you seen that meme with Plankton? The one that goes ‘I never thought I’d get this far’? That’s me right now. I was expecting you to ignore me or to like be really mean.”

“Hm.” Blue thinned his lips. Red was starting to walk toward them. As he heard Leaf say all these things, he inwardly wondered: was that how everyone saw him? Someone who walked around like he owned the school? Someone who was so unapproachable that if someone dared to talk to him they would be humiliated?

“Oh! H-Hi Red!” Leaf waved. Red seemed stunned and looked at Blue, as if unsure of what to do.

“Bro, just say hi back.” Blue scoffed playfully. “Leaf was telling me that she wanted you to have lunch with her and her friend…Kris, was it?” Lead nodded excitedly. Red seemed uncomfortable as he placed his cap over his gaze. In the few weeks they hung out together, Blue learned that Red tilting his cap like that meant that he was thinking about it.

“I-It’s okay, if you don’t want to, but I wanted to see those monsters you draw in class. I like the one with the huge flower on its back.” Once Leaf had said the magic word, Red nodded. Blue laughed and promised to catch-up with Red after school ended. While he would have _preferred_ to have lunch with Red, Blue didn’t want to get in the way of someone actually befriending Red. A part of him felt guilty: did Blue’s treatment (and his friend’s treatment) of Red put such a target on the quiet boy’s back that no one wanted to approach him? Red had hinted at it earlier—but why were high school students so fucking fickle?

When Blue reached his lunch table, he wasn’t surprised to see his friends all chatting with each other. They seemed to act normal so maybe Blue’s fear of them castigating him for befriending Red was unfounded? Sure, they had been weird this morning—but maybe they were okay with it now? It would be a long time before Blue merged his friend groups, but maybe he could help Red feel more included. Despite the gossip he was being fed by the group about the other kids at school, Blue’s mind was only fixated on Red and how _tight_ his shirt seemed on his broad shoulders.

* * *

_“Blue how could you get a B+ in science class?!”_

_“Gramps, give Blue a break! That teacher is really hard! He’s only in seventh grade!”_

_“Daisy, Blue was too busy slacking off. It’s like he wants to be an embarrassment to our family.”_

_“I’ll help him! I promise!”_

_“Blue’s lucky to have you, Daisy.”_

* * *

“Blue!” A loud voice reverberated throughout the house. Blue crinkled his nose, wondering why his grandfather’s voice was booming across the hallway. Blue quickly typed Red an apology text as he stepped away from their raid in Colosseum to see why his grandfather was acting like he was having an aneurysm. Would Blue even mind if his grandfather was in the hospital? Scratching that dark thought, he marched into the living room.

“What’s up, Gramps?” Blue said as he walked closer to his grandfather. The older man had something in his hand and when Blue got closer, it became clearer what that paper was in Professor Oak’s grasp.

“Are you applying to Professor Sycamore’s lab?” Professor Oak’s smiled seemed strained.

“I’m thinking about it.” Blue shrugged. “Wait, were you looking through my bag?” Blue's backpack was moved from its usual spot. 

“I see.” Professor Oak cleared his throat. “I might want to remind you, Blue, that as my grandson—there’s a lot of options for you in the world. I know Daisy wasn’t necessarily interested in continuing the family legacy in research but I guessed that you, as the man of the family—”

“What are you trying to get at, Gramps? And you avoided my question about my bag.” Blue crossed his arms against his chest with some hesitation. This was probably the longest conversation that the two of them had in a very long time.

“I saw a paper sticking out and thought you needed me to sign something and you would forget to ask until the last minute like usual.” Professor Oak stated. Blue scoffed—he had long learned how to forge his grandfather’s signature on important papers. “I expect that you’ll be joining my lab for the summer research internship program. We need to get your application up-to-par for next year.”

“What’s wrong with Sycamore’s lab?” Blue asked innocently. “Isn’t any type of research experience good?”

“Blue.” Professor Oak chuckled softly. “To be taken seriously in this world, you need to have _real_ science. Psuedoscience will charm some people until they see pass the illusion. No top-tier school will ever accept that type of research.”

“I don’t think psychology is a pseudoscience.” Blue argued. “Besides, Professor Sycamore is cool. I like his class.”

“Ah.” Professor Oak tapped his chin. “Perhaps this is Augustine’s way of retaliating. Snatch my grandson away from my lab to use our name to boost his grant applications.”

“What are you even rambling about?!” Blue groaned. “What grants? I don’t get it.”

“You know that your name carries weight in the community, Blue.” Professor Oak explained as if talking to a child. “If Sycamore gets on you on board in his lab, he’ll show you off like a prize dog to earn the attention of other scientists. That’ll only boost his chances to obtain grants for his research.” The way that Professor Oak said _research_ made Blue feel uncomfortable.

“What if he actually thinks I would do well in his lab, Gramps?” Blue countered. “I have an A in his class, you know.”

“Of course you do.” Professor Oak shrugged. “I would expect nothing less. But I do not want our family’s reputation to be sullied by your premature interest in fake science. And Sycamore stooping low to use your name to gain favor from the National Institute of Science.”

“How are you any different than what you’re accusing Professor Sycamore of, Gramps?” Blue argued. “You’re saying that he wants to show me off like a prize dog, right? What about you? You hardly ever talk to me but now the one time when I might do something that could affect your work—you decide to make it your goal to control what I do!” Blue didn’t know why he was getting so heated and angry but it was the truth.

“Blue!” Professor Oak warned. “Do not raise your voice at me.”

“I—this conversation is useless!” Blue complained. “I’m going back to my room.” Red didn’t seem to push the topic when Blue returned. If anything—Blue was grateful that Red’s monster was so overpowered that he could decimate most of the enemies. Blue was having a hard time focusing as Professor Oak’s comments flew through his head. It didn’t help when Daisy texted him and asked why he had upset their grandfather. When Blue thought about Daisy’s long brown hair, he immediately remembered that he had meant to ask Red something.

**Blue:** How was your lunch with that girl today? You guys official yet? :P

**Red:** Leaf? No. She delivers pizzas to me.

**Blue:** That’s like the start of every porn movie or something. Oh I don’t have enough money to pay for this pizza…can I pay you another way?

**Red:** Shut up.

**Blue:** So was it nice?

**Red:** It was nice. They talk a lot. Like you.

**Blue:** Bet I was better company, heh.

**Red:** Maybe. They talked about you.

**Blue:** What did they say?

**Red:** They asked me if I did some type of magic spell to turn you into a nice person.

Blue nearly dropped his phone when he saw Red’s message. A part of him almost felt offended: why did his niceness have to be linked with Red? Why couldn’t he just be a nice person if he wanted? Then Leaf’s comment about her friend Kris danced around Blue. He could have been a nice person a long time ago but he never chose that path. He constantly chose the path that would protect him. It was like hiding behind a tree.

**Red:** Sorry if that offended you.

**Blue:** No, it didn’t. Leaf said something like that to me before you walked over. I think it’s dumb that they waited until we were gonna have lunch to ask you to sit with them at lunch.

**Red:** In middle school, your friends made a joke about how Joey and I were together because he sat with me at lunch a few times.

That…sounded oddly familiar. Blue knew about the homophobic comments that he and his friends had made about that classmate. Joey was nothing but nice—he was highly energetic and motivated. He didn’t deserve those rude comments. It tugged even more at Blue’s heart that his comments and involvement only made Red even more alone.

**Blue:** Well maybe Joey would have been a very lucky man?

**Red:** Shut up. Wanna do another dungeon before dinner?

* * *

_“Bro, a pet cat? That’s so gay. You’ll literally have a walking pussy around you that screams ‘I’m a fag. I swear if you didn’t have us for friends you would be pushed into a locker every day.’”_

* * *

School became slightly more bearable for Blue with Red by his side. They walked into the school together and talked about some strategies for whatever dungeon they would tackle today after school. Red seemed embarrassed that Leaf and Kris wanted Red to join them for lunch again. Something about incorporating their ideas for the monsters in his sketchbook. Blue liked that they liked the name for the monsters that Red and him had created: Pokemon.

Blue’s friends were like the weather. Some days, they were cheerful and friendly. Other days, they were vicious and snarky. The whirlwind of their moods made Blue feel like he was stuck on a roller coaster. There was this aching question that would tickle the back of his head sometimes: did he actually like being around his friends? They were his longest friends, for sure. And they weren’t all bad. They had funny jokes. They had the best access to parties and gossip. Blue used to always feel unstoppable with his friends by his side. The satisfaction that he would get knowing that his spring break pictures with his friends would be the talk of the school always fluffed Blue’s feathers. It was like they were armor for him or something.

Were they really armor though? Blue had started to grow irritated with some of their comments. Like right now when Rick was talking about Joey was “definitely” staring at his dick in class.

“What a fucking fag, man.” Rick spat. “Disgusting piece of shit.”

“Maybe you should pretend to flirt with him and then ghost him.” Brittany giggled.

“I mean, so what if he’s gay or not? He was my partner in English class once and he actually came up with a really cool idea for our project.” Blue shrugged. That was partially the truth. The real truth was that Joey’s mom was side-eyeing Blue every time he came over as if waiting for Blue to make fun of her son in front of him.

“Wait till he tries to molest you.” Brian rolled his eyes. “Then you’ll be regretting your words.” Blue took a bite of his sandwich but decided not to say anything. There was this trance-like voice at the back of his head reminding him that if he showed _too much_ interest in Joey’s sexuality—what if someone figured it out? What if they figured out that he was gay? The words that would probably leave Rick’s mouth only made Blue want to throw away his sandwich. It was like swallowing ashes.

When Blue returned home, he waited for Red’s text to sign onto Colosseum so that they could raid for some rare stat-boost items. Blue wouldn’t confess to anyone how his heart skipped a beat when his phone _ping_ ’ed and he saw Red’s name as the incoming message.

**Red:** Can’t play today. You free tonight?

Blue’s smile slightly deflated. He figured that it was just a stupid game. Maybe he could work on the research application for Dr. Sycamore. If anything—Blue was excited to submit it just to piss off Gramps. It would also be fun to see what kind of stuff Dr. Sycamore actually studied. The whole idea of “bonds” being a “strength” was an interesting topic. Naturally, Professor Oak had laughed about the idea when Blue brought it up one time during a rare shared dinner. Professor Oak’s vitriol only pushed Blue’s motivation further to apply to the lab.

**Blue:** Sure, yeah. Wanna raid then?

**Red:** No. Can you come over and tell my mom that we have to finish a project at your place?

**Blue:** Red, excuse my language, but what the fuck? Are you trying to sneak out or something?

**Red:** Kinda. Can’t explain right now. Just come over tonight after dinner. She’s not happy with me. But she might listen to you.

That stroked Blue’s curiosity. Red seemed like the apple of Delia’s eye. Blue didn’t know much about Red’s family—family was an out-of-bounds topic for the two boys whenever they talked about stuff. It made the brunette wonder what Red could have done to make Delia upset? Maybe she caught him eating pizza without a plate? What if was their Colosseum raids? Either way, Blue figured that the time away from the MMORPG would give him some time to work on Sycamore’s application.

There was a twinge of deviousness as Blue looked over his application. He could only _imagine_ how angry Gramps would be when Blue announced that he got into Sycamore’s lab. While it wasn’t guaranteed, Blue was willing to wager that his high grade in AP psychology and his rapport with the teacher was definitely a boost to his application. Besides—there was the fact that Sycamore actually requested him to apply.

Sure, Professor Oak’s insinuation about Sycamore “using” Blue to get some grants felt like a low blow. And Blue knew that there was a possibility that it could be true. But if everyone else could use Blue for his last name—why couldn’t Sycamore? Pushing those thoughts away, Blue clicked the final steps to submitting his application and leaned back in his chair as the confirmation email reached his inbox.

Professor Oak was gone for the night so Blue made himself some grilled cheese before heading out to Red’s house. A slight blush sprinkled across Blue’s nose as he wondered if Red wanted to come over to Blue’s house. His room was definitely a mess and he didn’t look his best—well, not that it would matter, right? Blue didn’t even know why he was worried about how he looked in front of Red. The capped boy wore the same type of T-shirt that really hugged his broad shoulders. The short-sleeves gave Blue nice access into the veins that would appear here-and-there on Red’s arms when he flexed. Even the other boy’s jeans were fitted well. It was so basic and simple—yet it was somehow alluring.

* * *

_Knock Knock_

“Blue?” Delia’s face appeared from the growing gap between the door and the arch of the door.

“Yo!” Blue saluted Red’s mom. “Uh, didn’t Red tell you that we had to finish a project tonight? He was supposed to come over and help me finish it.” Blue inwardly hoped that Delia wouldn’t ask any specific questions—like what class was this and why hadn’t either boy mentioned this project any time before. There was a look of doubt in her eyes but she exhaled and opened the door for Blue to enter.

“He’s been keeping some stuff from me, it seems.” Delia whispered and Blue almost wondered if he was supposed to hear it. “I’ll get him for you. He’s technically grounded, but I suppose I can let him go out for school.”

“Thanks. I can’t let our grade tank.” Blue grinned. He plopped himself on the same seat that he had taken when he first amended his relationship with Red. There was this welcoming feel to Red’s home. It was like it was made to be safe and comfortable. Meanwhile, Blue felt like his own house was perfect on the outside—yet hollow and cold inside.

Red finally appeared from the stairwell, galloping down the stairs. Blue noticed how he was keeping his cap tipped down. It was even more startling to see Red intentionally avoiding eye contact with Blue. Did he mess something up again?! As Red finished tying his shoes, he grabbed his backpack and motioned Blue to follow him outside. Blue wordlessly followed his friend until they closed the door behind him. It took a few steps into the streetlights of Pallet Town for Blue to see what Red was hiding.

“Red, why the fuck do you have a black eye?!” Blue nearly screamed. Red’s eyes widened and—to Blue’s surprise—he actually let out an audible exhale. Blue waited patiently as Red scribbled on the sketchpad that Blue had bought him around Christmas. Red glanced nervously at Blue before turning back to his pad a few times before handing over the notebook to Blue.

_I got into a fight at school. Got a warning from the principal._

“Who did—why did—Red, I have like a million questions!” Blue whined, exasperated by Red’s vagueness. Red, to his part, seemed to notice Blue’s annoyance. He took back the notebook and started writing as quickly as he could before handing back the dragon-scaled notebook to Blue.

_Someone pulled down Joey’s pants in the locker room during gym to embarrass him. Joey was about to cry. I pushed the other kid into the lockers. We fought._

“That’s so fucked up.” Blue scratched his chin. An uneasy feeling touched his fingers as he felt like he already knew the answer to this question. Still, he had to ask. “Was it…was it Rick?” Red simply nodded in response. It made sense: Rick had come up with some inane conclusion that Joey was staring at his dick earlier at lunch. Blue briefly recapped the lunchtime conversation with Red, explicitly mentioning his disappointment in his friend.

“Is that why your mom was mad?” Blue asked. Red nodded as he led them to a nearby park. Blue simply watched as Red took out a toolbox. Blue’s eyes widened as he wondered what the _actual_ fuck was going on. “Why do you have a toolbox with you?”

_Need to save her._

“Who the fuck do we need to save? Hold on, Red, you can’t just tell me this while you’re pulling out a hammer! I don’t know how to bury a body or lie to the cops—who needs to be rescued? Is this Leaf?” Blue continued rambling. Once Red heard Leaf’s name, he finally paused and looked at Blue with exasperation. Despite the exhaustive look in his eyes, there was a crooked smile filled with amusement that accompanied the stare. After shaking his head to confirm that Leaf wasn’t in danger, Red wrote as fast as he could in the dragon-skinned notebook.

_Saw her one night during a walk. Kept an eye for a few days. She had bruises. Looked like she hadn’t eaten. Saw beer cans in the trash._

“So? Bro, let’s call the cops. Why do you have a fucking hammer in your hand?” Blue ran a hand through his hair, looking around nervously. What would someone think if they saw the two boys in the park with a toolbox. From his brief encounters with the head police officer, Officer Jenny, Blue did _not_ want to have to be forced to use his grandfather’s name to mitigate whatever punishment they would receive.

_We have to save her. I need your help._

“My help? Dude, I dunno if you’ve noticed, but you’re probably bigger than I am. Which is completely unfair, by the way.” Blue huffed. Red’s face blushed but he gave a lopsided smile to Blue before ruffling Blue’s hair. “I’m not a fucking child, you moron!” As if to throw a tantrum, Blue shook his hair which only made it messier.

_I need someone to keep watch. I trust you._

“Fine. If we end up going to jail, I’m going to say that you forced me.” Blue grumbled as he followed along Red. Why couldn’t they just call the cops? How was Blue supposed to help Red save some girl being abused? Isn’t this why the police existed? The duo walked wordlessly (which was highly uncharacteristic for Blue) into another neighborhood. They avoided the main sidewalks to avoid any suspicion from passing cards. As Red led Blue across a dark field, Blue couldn’t help but notice how bright the stars were from this open field. It was like he had stepped out of a cave and was finally able to see the night sky for the beauty that it was. And here was Red—marching forward with an infectious conviction. After all, who else could have persuaded Blue to help rescue a child?

Red signaled to Blue that they finally reached the destination. It wasn’t a remarkable house, by any means. It was probably roughly the same size as Red’s home. When Blue looked at the house number, it came up blank in his memory. Whoever this was—they were a stranger to Blue. The only notable figure in the house’s yard was a downtrodden doghouse. Blue figured if this person was neglecting their kid—the dog wasn’t doing much better.

“Fine, I’ll keep watch.” Blue whispered, withdrawing his phone from his pocket. “First, you owe me your next legendary monster in Colosseum. Second, I’ll call you Charizard to signal you, okay? That way they won’t know who you are.” To Blue’s surprise, Red seemed extremely pleased and flattered with the codename. Scoffing, Blue pushed Red along as he wondered if Red had any idea what he actually doing.

With some athletic prowess, Red climbed the short fence and jumped into the yard. Blue half-expected some dog to come out from the doghouse to bark at Red. What made Blue even more curious was when Red approached the doghouse and knelt to the ground. From his pocket, Red pulled out some biscuit-looking thing. Blue’s eyes widened as something moved from the doghouse and peeked outside to see what the treat was.

It was a small cat. Blue could be convinced that it looked like a fox. It was brown, with a white collar of fur. It hit Blue that Red wasn’t talking about a child—he was talking about a _cat_. And Red was right: the small brown cat looked scared. But when Red wiggled the treat closer to the cat’s nose, the creature calmed and nibbled a bit. It froze, as if expecting to be hit or something by Red. But when Red simply smiled down at the cat, the pet continued to eat as if it hadn’t eaten in a while.

There was something beautiful about watching Red be so gentle around this hurt cat. Not that Blue thought of himself as a cat—but he wondered if that’s what Red was to him. Where Blue was barbed and vicious, Red was gentle and calm. Sure, the roles could be switched: Red punched Rick today and Blue was too cowardly to say something more to defend Joey. But there was this odd swelling blooming in Blue’s chest as the cat finished the treat.

The softness of the situation disappeared when the moonlight showed a chain tethering the cat to the doghouse. What the hell?! Who chains a cat to a tattered doghouse?! Blue stayed silent as Red pulled out some pliers from the toolbox to break the chain. The cat hissed and jumped at the noise, but the moment it felt the first taste of freedom—the cat froze. It was like the cat wasn’t used to any type of kindness and it didn’t know what to do.

Red pulled out another treat from his pocket and gently placed it on the ground for the cat. This seemed to instill some life into the frozen cat as it continued to gnaw at the biscuit. Jocelyn had once talked about how “hot” some dads looked with kids and Blue—as scared as he was to admit it—wondered if this is what Jocelyn meant when he saw the fierce protectiveness of Red bleeding into a soft gentleness.

Then, Blue heard some movement. Was it the cat? It then dawned upon Blue that the noise was coming from the inside of the house. Wait—was the owner coming outside? There was some creaking noise so unless there was a ghost—and Blue _hated_ ghosts—then someone was about to open the front door.

“Re—Charizard! Code red! Come on!” Blue signaled. Red’s eyes widened as he finally caught onto the sound as well. Scooping up the cat into his arms, Red ran over to the fence. Without much of a question, Red shoved the cat into Blue’s trembling arms so that he could climb over the fence. Blue had never held a cat like this before. But for some reason, it felt calming and…safe?

“’ho’s there?!” A drunken voice ripped into the tranquil nice air. Red and Blue glanced at each other before sprinting as fast as they could to Blue’s house. Blue prayed that the owner was too drunk to notice his missing cat and possibly too drunk to go driving around to look for the cat. Either way, Blue felt proud that the cat was safe.

Sure—he had probably just done something illegal. Hadn’t he done the same with his friends? Parties, underage drinking, smoking herbs, etc. But this was different. Instead of the illegal activity being escapism to avoid dealing with his feelings—this was like a rush that made Blue feel _good_. It wasn’t like being drunk or high. It was fun. It made Blue laugh—which he did, much to Red’s confusion. He only held the cat closer to his chest as his legs carried him closer and closer to his house.

“C-Come on!” Blue panted, nodding toward his house. “Let’s go inside.” To Blue’s disappointment, Red shook his head, glancing at the watch on his wrist. It was probably edging too close to curfew for Red and Delia was already upset with her son. When Red opened his arms to hold the cat, Blue suddenly turned away.

“Um, wouldn’t it be better if the cat stayed with me? No one’s like ever home. And I can keep it in my room. She’s…kinda cute, right?” Blue nervously glanced between Red and the cat. Vivid voices of his “masculinity” being questioned circled around Blue. But Red broke through that veil and nodded, his smile serving like a beacon in the night.

_I will bring some food and stuff to school tomorrow to give you. Thank you._

“Hey, what if I named the cat Eevee? Like that one monster we drew together?”

* * *

Blue was now a parent. To a stolen cat. To be fair, the cat _was_ being abused. The dried blood on its fur only made Blue feel sick. But he had done something good. It was like…Blue had been soiled in dirt for so long and he was finally being cleaned. Red’s smile was etched into Blue’s mind as he ignored his homework to play with the cat some more. It would be _easy_ to hide this from the professor. If he could sneak alcohol and marijuana into the house, then a cat shouldn’t be too hard, right?

True to his word, Red had given Blue some necessary tools for helping Eevee stay healthy and safe. Red even offered a legendary water monster to Blue in their game but Blue rejected it by lying and saying it wasn’t strong enough for him. Even though Red could easily see past Blue’s veneer, the two fell into a comfortable pattern with each other. Things seemed to actually get easier for Blue: his friends heckled him less about Red. Brian was being annoying about asking if Professor Oak had mentioned his application and Jocelyn was talking about prom _a lot_ but overall—things were reaching a nice level of comfort.

Mid-semester exams rolled around the corner and Blue found that Red was a distracting yet helpful study partner. Red was surprisingly lazy when it came to school work, but when Blue asked him to help Blue focus—Red was more than happy to poke and prod at Blue whenever he got distracted. The boys were talking—well, over text—nearly all the time now. Red would ask about Eevee. Blue would send pictures and videos. Leaf managed to uncover their secret one day since she saw Red’s phone. With a safe smile on her face, she promised that if the drunken man asked her about any lost cats—she would feign obliviousness.

Blue was proud of Red as the weeks passed. The quiet boy appeared more comfortable around Leaf and her friend. While Blue wished they could spend lunch together, it was still nice to return to his other group of friends. They were already talking about spring break plans and splitting the cost to share the limo to prom. A small twinge poked at Blue’s heart. Would it be more fun if he went to prom with Leaf, Kris, and Red? Whenever Red mentioned their lunchtime conversations, it always seemed like they were talking about fun things—not gossiping or making fun of other people.

When Professor Sycamore started talking about their next unit in psychology, Blue found himself interested in theories about identity and personality. Professor Sycamore lectured about how this idea of _self-concept_ was the sum of phrases that came to mind whenever someone thought about who they are, who they used to be, and who they may become in the future. That stimulated Blue’s thoughts: he couldn’t deny that he was an angry, hostile asshole who did nothing while people were teased. But he had grown, right? He saved an abused cat (and basically adopted it) with Red. Instead of alienating people, he actually brought Leaf and Red together as friends. He and Red were growing in popularity on the online MMORPG to the point that they were getting some elite guild invites. They both agreed that they didn’t really care for guilds or hierarchy in the game—they just wanted to play for fun.

But who did Blue want to be in the future? He had always seen himself as a younger Professor Oak: married to his job as a scientist. He had seen himself with his life carved out for him from the silhouette of an oak tree. But there was something about the blazing hearth that Red provided that made Blue want to push himself out of that shadow. What if he could do something else?

“Blue!” Professor Sycamore called on the daydreaming student. “Could you tell me what self-esteem is? And what variables might make our self-esteem higher?” Blue smirked as he remembered Professor Sycamore hinting to him yesterday to make sure that he understood that section in the textbook.

“Well, Professor, self-esteem is like our evaluations of ourselves. So like the closer our actual self is to our ideal self—or like who we want to be—and our ought self—or like who others want us to be—then the higher our self-esteem will be.” Blue recited his definitions without looking at his notes. Professor Sycamore seemed pleased as he scratched the scruff appearing at the bottom of his chin.

“Great memorization, Blue. Could you give me an example of the actual self versus the ideal self versus the ought self?”

Something whirred in Blue’s mind as if his brain went into auto-pilot mode when he spoke. He could hear his words _after_ he had said them:

“Well, like, I guess if someone was gay, right? But they hated being gay and wanted to be straight, then there would be a big distance between their _actual self_ and their _ideal self_ , right? And then if everyone around them wanted them to be straight, then them being gay would increase that distance between the _actual self_ and the _ought self_ or something, right?” Blue didn’t realize what he was actually saying until Professor Sycamore clapped his hand and started writing on the chalkboard.

Holy shit. Did he _really_ just talk about being gay as an example? What if someone noticed it? What if someone heard what he said? He _knew_ that if the situation was switched, he and his friends would be laughing all lunch long about how _gay_ that student was for talking about this. Fuck. Why couldn’t he have come up with another example? Now everyone was going to know, wouldn’t they?

“Blue, since you’re clearly the only one who read the textbook, could you tell me some more about Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development?” Professor Sycamore turned back to face the class. Blue was doing his best to hide the growing discomfort creeping up his skin but luckily his urge to show off to the class distracted him just enough.

“Yeah, uh, I think those stages of psychosocial development stem from conflicts that occur throughout our life.” Blue answered. Sycamore then called on other students as they answered his questions. In the first year of life, there was the existential question of whether someone could trust the world.

Another student explained that the next stage took place in between the first and third years of life with the recurring question of “is it okay to be me?” Blue felt a slight emptiness as he wondered if he ever moved past that stage. He never felt like it was okay to be himself—he had to be who everyone wanted him to be.

“Blue!” Professor Sycamore called on him again. “Can you tell me the stage that occurs typically when someone is between twelve to twenty years old?” It took Blue a few moments to remember what stage that was until it hit him: _identity vs role confusion_.

“I think that we talked about how the main questions of that stage were about who we are and what can we be.” Blue answered, looking back down at his notes. It only seemed fitting that the next stage in Blue’s notes was _intimacy vs isolation_ and the central question of that stage was: _can I love_?

Could Blue ever love someone? Red seemed okay with Blue being gay. Would the rest of Pallet Town be okay with it? Blue would be willing to bet all of his legendary monsters in Colosseum that Brian and Rick would hate him for it. There was this annoying itch in Blue’s mind as he kept on thinking about how _nice_ Red’s shirt and jeans looked on him—as if looking good was effortless for the other kid. Wait, why was he thinking of Red? Blue quickly pushed the thought away and prepared himself for any more questions from Sycamore. Luckily, class ended and Blue and his classmates were free from more grilling from Professor Sycamore. Glancing at his backpack, Blue slowly walked over to Professor Sycamore.

“Hey, I was wondering if you’ve finished reading over my application for your lab.” Blue nervously played with the ends of his shirt as he watched a flicker of emotion spread across Sycamore’s face. The black-haired man brushed back some of his hair and stared at Blue for several moments before answering.

“I’m a bit confused, Blue.” Professor Sycamore arched an eyebrow. “You know that you cannot be placed into two labs, right?”

“Uh, yeah?” Blue nodded. “I only applied to yours.”

“Is that so?” Professor Sycamore’s voice lowered. He beckoned Blue to come closer to his computer screen. With a few keystrokes, Professor Sycamore opened up an email thread between the principal investigators of the summer research internship program. A crawling fear crept up Blue’s throat as Sycamore scrolled down to an email that was sent from none other than Samuel Oak:

“I hope you all will congratulate my grandson for choosing to study in my lab. I will be posting an announcement later today on my website.”

Blue’s throat felt closed: why was Gramps telling everyone that Blue had picked his lab?! Blue hadn’t even _submitted_ an application to Professor Oak’s lab.

“I just guessed that maybe Samuel got to you and you decided to apply to his lab, too. And unsurprisingly, he was going to pick you as his first choice. And since his lab has seniority—”

“No!” Blue screamed. “I-I didn’t even apply to his lab! I only applied to yours, I swear! I submitted the application right before Red and I—how did he—oh fuck, Brian.” Blue panicked as he raced out of the room. If the announcement was going to be made today, then that meant that Brian was going to realize that he _wasn’t_ picked for Oak’s lab and—

_Oomph_. There was a hard punch in Blue’s gut. Brian’s voice appeared by his ear:

“Thanks for stealing my fucking position, Blue. You’re such a great pal. Hope you and your mute enjoy jacking each other off.” Brian shoved past Blue with Rick at his heels. Blue could only feel his heart jumping to leap out of his throat. He _hadn’t_ applied to Gramps’s lab. He didn’t _want_ to work with Gramps.

Even though he knew he would only get in trouble, Blue made his escape from the school as fast as he could. It was like he couldn’t breathe. The tree’s branches were wrapped around him—suffocating and strangling him until he was as limp as a ragdoll.

* * *

“I didn’t even fucking apply to your lab, Gramps!” Blue screamed. Professor Oak was at the other side of the dinner table, smiling cheerfully as if he hadn’t used his influence to manipulate the results. “I don’t _want_ to work for your lab.”

“Nonsense, Blue.” Professor Oak tittered. “Daisy worked in my lab and you saw how well she appeared on her college applications. I know you’re not used to working hard, but—”

“I do work hard! I have good grades, I keep myself healthy, and I—”

“I would not permit you to be used like a prize dog by Augustine.” Professor Oak deepened his voice. “Our family’s reputation was on the line.”

“How are you the smartest guy in town and you can’t freaking get it? I do not want to work with you! I—”

“Blue, stop your tantrum.” Professor Oak crossed his arms against his chest. “Most people would be thanking me with gifts for accepting them into my lab. Even though there were far better applicants than you, I still—”

“I didn’t even _apply_ to your lab, Gramps!” Blue cried.

“Be grateful.” Professor Oak shook his head.

“Fuck everything!” Blue was fighting back tears as he stomped back into his room. He didn’t need to eat. He had skipped lunch and he was skipping dinner now, too. Red had texted him a few times but Blue didn’t even have the energy to explain why his life was collapsing around him. Was he being overdramatic about an internship? Maybe. But it was the same pattern over and over again: no matter how hard Blue tried to escape the umbrage of the oak tree—it continued to haunt him like a ghost. And Blue _hated_ ghosts.

Eevee noticed Blue’s distress. Her purr exposed her dissatisfaction when Blue pulled out a half-empty bottle of alcohol from his closet. He had meant to save it for whenever the next party was but would he even be invited? Brian probably hated him. Rick didn’t look too happy with the black eye that matched Red’s bruise.

Taking a long swig of the acrid drink, Blue coughed and wiped his lips as the burn slid down his throat. He braved himself for another drink and another until the bottle was empty. Eevee was next to him on his bed, nudging her head against Blue as if to urge him to lay down. He didn’t notice until then that tears were falling from his face. He knew he was too privileged to complain. Gramps was probably right: Blue was being spoiled and throwing a tantrum. _Anyone_ would be happy to be working at Gramps’s lab. Anyone but Blue that is.

As he laid down on his bed, Blue absent-mindedly grabbed his phone. He wanted nothing more than Red’s arms to embrace him in a hug. He wanted to wet the plain T-shirt that Red wore with his tears as the taller boy comforted him. He wanted to be around Red.

“Heeeeeeeey Red.” Blue started to record himself on camera. “I got Eevee over here. I guess we’re kinda like her parents, right? We rescued her and everything. But if we’re her parents…haha, never mind. I was going to make a dumb joke. Although you find my dumb jokes funny. I don’t get why. But you do. You’re pretty funny too, Red. Especially for someone who doesn’t talk a lot.”

“I hate myself so much for treating you so badly. I wish I had known that you were this cool. That you were this creative. Your mom is so nice. Better than Gramps. You know that he faked an application from me so that he could pick me for his internship? I hate him so much. I’m never good enough for him. I’m never good enough for anyone.”

“I don’t think I’m good enough for you, Red. I mean, you didn’t care that I was…you know, gay. You don’t seem to care when I stare at how tight your shirt stretches across your shoulders. And how handsome your smile is. And how cute your drawings are. Well, cute and badass. Kinda like you.”

“I think you’re the best thing that’s happened to me.” Blue continued drawling on the video even if he wasn’t sure that he was in the camera frame. From what it looked like, the camera was on Eevee. “You make me wanna be a better person. Everyone else just accepts that I’m Blue Oak. But you challenged that. You looked past me. Fuck dude, no one else does that. Fuck all my friends—Jocelyn, Brian, Brittany, Joanna, and Rick. Fuck all of them. If they knew I was gay, they would fucking kill me or something. I’m just a tool for them.”

“Haha, a tool. Remember that toolbox you used to save Eevee? I was so confused dude. I was so confused by you. But you make more sense to me than anyone else here. I wish I could tell you all of this. I wish I could be with you right now. I know that sounds gay…well, I guess I am gay. Haha. What about you Red? Do you like Leaf? Or Kris? I’ll help you with any girl you want. Unless…haha, you wouldn’t like guys, would you? I mean, it’s okay if you do. If you like Joey, I can put in a good word for you.”

There was a slam that indicated that Professor Oak had returned from wherever he had gone. Blue’s eyes widened as he stopped recording the video and hid under his covers. Eevee jumped into the bed with him and stared at him, as if questioning why Blue was acting so weird.

“Hey, Eevee, should I send Red the video?” Blue grinned as he scratched behind Eevee’s ear. “It would be so embarrassing, right? But maybe he would see how I really feel. We could be your parents, Eevee. I feel like this is one of those rom-coms where the kid gets the parents back together. You’re our kid. Well, your half-brother Pikachu is kinda annoying. He used to hate me a lot. Like your other dad, Red.” Blue paused before erupting into a fit of giggles.

“I think Red would blush so much if I said he was your dad. You think he likes being called daddy? I should ask him one day.” Blue sung to himself as he absentmindedly played with Eevee’s fur. Sure, he was still feeling crummy about the whole lab situation. But at least he had Eevee. And Red.

“Fine, if you keep on giving me that look, I’ll send it to him. But if he thinks it’s weird, I’m going to tell Red that you posted this while playing games on my phone and I’m not sure why or how you chose it but I’m not complaining.” Blue winked at the rescued cat as he scrolled through his contacts. What was the alphabet again? L-M-N-O-P-Q-R! R!

Sending the video, Blue snuggled into his bed with Eevee. At least in his dreams, he could be who he wanted without anyone trying to force him to be someone else.

* * *

When Blue woke up, the first thing he noticed after his pounding headache was that Eevee’s food bowl was empty. He quickly grabbed some snacks and filled it before grabbing his phone. There were a dozen text messages—and half of them were from Red. Before Blue could open the messages, he nearly gasped when he saw the time.

School had started _three hours ago_. Blue had overslept his alarm. FUCK.

Quickly doing his best to get ready, Blue tried to make himself somewhat presentable. He thought about sending an apology text to Red for not waiting for him at the front of the school. When he went to grab his phone, a memory replayed in his head: the video recording.

“FUCK!” Blue screamed. He was _so_ glad that no one was home. Blue glanced at his phone, his anxiety eating away at him. He wanted to open it so badly and see what Red had said. Fuck, what if Red never wanted to talk to him again? What if Red rejected him? What if—

“Okay, let me fucking get to school first. If he’s going to break my heart, I hope he at least has the balls to do it in person.” Blue spoke aloud to Eevee. There was a fake swagger in his words as the fear of Red rejecting him started to feel more real by the moment. For once, Blue was happy that Pallet Town was so small. Walking to school didn’t take more than 15 minutes. At one of the parties in Viridian City, some guy talked about how the train could take close to an hour to reach one of the private schools.

Marching into school, Blue glanced at the clock in the hallway and figured that it would be time for lunch. At least he could ask Jocelyn or Joanna to help him come up with a lie. Well, first Blue needed to think of a _lie_ to tell them. How was he supposed to say that he and his gramps got into a fight and he finished half a bottle of alcohol on an empty stomach? _And sent an embarrassing video of his feelings about Red_.

Blue didn’t notice the difference in the ambiance at first, but it started to become clearer as Blue approached his familiar lunch table. He was _definitely_ avoiding anywhere where he would see Leaf, Kris, and Red. What if they were replaying his video and laughing at him? When Blue saw Jocelyn with puffy eyes, he wondered why she was upset. Brian was glaring daggers at him—which was probably to be expected because of the summer research internship program.

“Sup.” Blue acted casual. “I fucking overslept today. Did I miss anything?” No one said anything for a moment which made Blue wonder if something did happen. He noticed that Rick wasn’t at the table—but sometimes the other student was making up a quiz or something during lunch, so it wasn’t too unusual.

“Blue.” Jocelyn scooted closer to him and pushed away Joanna’s embrace. “You know that prom’s right around the corner, right?” She brushed back her hair and stared directly at Blue as if trying to peer into his soul. Shrugging, Blue was tempted to take out his phone but decided that he didn’t want to see Red’s response at the moment.

“So I’m thinking a violet corsage would work.” Jocelyn moved closer to Blue. The decreasing distance between them made Blue uncomfortable—maybe it was just his hangover?

When Jocelyn’s thin hands suddenly jumped from her lap into Blue’s lap, he froze. He vaguely remembered Jocelyn hitting on him at that one party—the party where he came out to ReDragon (or Red). Blue stammered as he tried to think of a response and it didn’t help that everyone’s eyes seemed to be on him—Brian, Joanna, and Brittany were all staring as if they were watching the climax scene of a movie.

“Do you like that?” Jocelyn’s voice lowered as her fingers suddenly moved and her hands were now officially groping Blue’s flaccid crotch through his pants. Immediately, Blue pushed her away and stood up from his seat.

“What the fuck, Jocelyn?!” Blue screamed, not caring if anyone saw his outburst. Why was Brian laughing? Why did Joanna and Brittany look so angry? Why was Jocelyn crying?!

“R-Rick was right.” Jocelyn laughed through her tears. “The fucking mute queered you. I thought he was just talking shit but he was right. You were fucking _soft_.” Blue was stunned. Had Rick been talking shit about him behind his back? That wasn’t surprising but—

“And here you are, always thinking that you’re better than all of us. Because you’re _Blue Oak_.” Brittany shook her head, comforting the sobbing Jocelyn. Blue truly didn’t know what was going on but every cell in his body was telling him to _run_.

“Yeah, fucking fag took my research position for himself. Can’t have anyone else stealing his grandfather’s attention. Maybe it’s so that when Professor Oak figures out that he has a queer—”

“Shut up!” Blue screamed at Brian, tears threatening to fall from the corner of his eyes. This had to be a nightmare, right? What had given it away? What was going on? People were staring and Blue wanted to scream at them to stop but he was suddenly silent and nothing could escape his throat.

“Get the fuck away from us, Blue.” Joanna hissed. “You make us all sick.” Blue didn’t need any more encouragement as he grabbed his bag and ran as fast as he could into the hallways. He didn’t care if Red was going to reject him: he needed a _friend_ right now. Running as fast as he can (and ignoring the familiar cry from Professor Sycamore down the hall), Blue looked around to find the familiar capped boy.

It wasn’t the same feeling of relief, but Blue finally recognized the familiar white cap that Leaf always wore. Sprinting toward her, Blue only then realized that tears were streaming down his face. This wasn’t a nightmare. Had Red shown that video to everyone? Did Red tell everyone about his secret?

“Blue…” Leaf seemed shocked to see him. Her friend Kris excused herself and left Leaf alone with the frazzled Blue. “I…”

“W-Where’s Red?” Blue tried to hold back a sob. He looked away from Leaf and prepared to hear some joke about how he was _such a girl_ for crying. Instead, he felt a comfortable embrace from the shorter girl.

“I…Red’s at home.” Leaf started slowly. “Blue, sit down with me, okay? I have some water and I want you to drink it before we keep on talking.” Blue obliged, taking a long swig of Leaf’s water bottle before wiping his lips. His eyes asked for more answers.

“D-Does he hate me?” Blue whispered. “I…I’m guessing you and him were laughing at me, right?”

“What?!” Leaf arched an eyebrow. “No! Why would you…nevermind. He got suspended like by first period.”

“What?!” Blue’s eyes widened.

“Kris told me that he got into another fight with your asshole friend, Rick.” Leaf explained. “Um, I’m just going to tell you what Kris told me but I don’t know if any of it is true, okay?” Blue’s heart threatened to jump from his chest but all he could do was nod.

“Someone told Kris that Rick marched up to Red or something in the hallway. They argued—well, Rick yelled. Red looked pissed. And then they were fighting.” Leaf reported.

“What…what were they arguing about? I know they punched each other when Rick pantsed Joey the other day.” Blue’s voice was low.

“I don’t know.” Leaf shrugged. “Look, not to be _you_ , but you kinda look like a mess, Blue. You already like missed half of school today, right? Why not…skip the rest of the day?” Blue took a minute or so to process what Leaf was actually suggesting: talk to Red.

“I…Look, I don’t deserve your niceness. I know my _friends_ and I have been assholes.” Blue nearly spat when he used the word _friends_. “But you’re a good person, Leaf. I’ll happily talk you up to Red if you want.” Leaf replied with a loud-pealed laugh before she pushed Blue toward the stairway.

“You’re so clueless, Blue.” Leaf mumbled just as Blue raced down the stairs to escape school. Thank goodness Pallet Town’s only school had the laziest security guards…

* * *

“Red! Red! Please, open the door! I’m sorry, okay! I don’t know what I did wrong but I know I fucked up somehow. Please please please open the door!” Blue begged from the outside of Red’s house. There was some shuffling movement as Delia appeared to open the door. Blue immediately straightened his back and tried to hide away the distress on his face. To his surprise, Delia stepped forward and gave Blue a long hug.

“He’s not mad at you, Blue.” Delia whispered. “And even though I’m not a fan of my son getting into fistfights at school because of you, I’m not mad at you, either.” Blue appreciated the comfortable hug from Red’s mom although her words slightly confused him. Was she implying that Red got suspended because of Blue?

“He’s in his room. And his videogame privileges are gone for the week. If I hear any sounds, I’m coming up immediately.” Delia warned before nudging Blue up the stairwell. He absentmindedly nodded before reaching the room that he wanted to reach: Red’s room.

_The first time he was here, Red had pushed him against a wall. His lips had been quivering. He had stomped into his room and grabbed the whiteboard and asked Blue if this was a joke._

“R-Red?” Blue couldn’t believe how _pathetic_ his voice sounded. He was expecting—for some reason—Red to open the door and greet him with a punch. But when Red opened the door with cuts on his face, Blue gasped.

“What…did Rick do this?!” Blue let himself in the room. Pikachu seemed to ignore Blue’s presence as the rodent hovered around Red’s heels. “Red, I’m so confused. Could someone tell me what the fuck is going on?! Your mom said she wasn’t mad at me and Leaf said she heard you got suspended and—”

Red was pointing at his phone. Blue gulped and pulled out his phone from his pocket. Was he ready to see Red’s rejection?

There were still a dozen messages. Trembling, Blue unlocked his phone and opened his messages to read through them. He first started with Red:

**Red:** Where are you? Just got to school.

**Red:** Are you skipping school today?

**Red:** Did I do something wrong?

**Red:** I thought you said we could walk in together.

**Red:** I am sorry if I messed up.

“Red, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who sent—wait a moment.” Blue glanced back at his phone screen. He scrolled up-and-down on the page that displayed his messages with Red. Where was that _cringe_ video from last night? Was some type of monster-god looking down upon the world and blessed Blue by not sending that video?

Blue clicked ‘back’ on his messages and noticed that there were some messages from Rick. Opening his messages with Rick, Blue felt his heart sink into a deep hole.

**Rick:** Bro what the fuck is this queer shit. Are you and the mute fucking? Fuck I knew it.

**Rick:** No wonder you’ve been such an ass to all of us. Probably taking it up the fucking ass from the freak.

Blue. Oak. Had. Accidentally. Sent. His. Confession. Video. To. Rick.

Rick—the homophobic “friend.”

Not Red—but _Rick_.

Blue wanted the floor beneath him to swallow him whole. This could _not_ be happening. This had to be a nightmare. This had to be—

_He said that I queered you. And he was going to get you straight again. So we fought._ Blue read Red’s words on the whiteboard. Blue tried to formulate some words but nothing could appear. Professor Sycamore had once talked about how the brain could formulate words but there were extra steps that were needed to produce the words.

“I…” Blue didn’t know what to say as he started to tremble. Before he could bolt out of the room, Red’s strong hold on him anchored him. It helped ease some of the racing thoughts that were sprinting through Blue’s mind.

“Did he show you…” Blue was scared to see the answer. There was an odd disappointment when Red seemed confused at what Blue was insinuating. Deciding that this day could only get worse, Blue plopped down on Red’s bed and patted it next to him so that he could show Red the video that he had accidentally sent to Rick—instead of Red.

_“Heeeeeeeey Red. I got Eevee over here. I guess we’re kinda like her parents, right? We rescued her and everything. But if we’re her parents…haha, never mind. I was going to make a dumb joke. Although you find my dumb jokes funny. I don’t get why. But you do. You’re pretty funny too, Red. Especially for someone who doesn’t talk a lot.”_

Blue looked away, trying to shield himself from the imminent disgust that would appear on Red’s face as he continued to watch the cringeworthy video.

_“I hate myself so much for treating you so badly. I wish I had known that you were this cool. That you were this creative. Your mom is so nice. Better than Gramps. You know that he faked an application from me so that he could pick me for his internship? I hate him so much. I’m never good enough for him. I’m never good enough for anyone.”_

“I sound so fucking pathetic.” Blue whispered before catching his breath. Red didn’t act like he had heard what Blue said as the video continued to play. Even Pikachu seemed to be watching and for once—the rodent wasn’t mocking Blue.

_“I don’t think I’m good enough for you, Red. I mean, you didn’t care that I was…you know, gay. You don’t seem to care when I stare at how tight your shirt stretches across your shoulders. And how handsome your smile is. And how cute your drawings are. Well, cute and badass. Kinda like you.”_

_“I think you’re the best thing that’s happened to me. You make me wanna be a better person. Everyone else just accepts that I’m Blue Oak. But you challenged that. You looked past me. Fuck dude, no one else does that. Fuck all my friends—Jocelyn, Brian, Brittany, Joanna, and Rick. Fuck all of them. If they knew I was gay, they would fucking kill me or something. I’m just a tool for them.”_

_“Haha, a tool. Remember that toolbox you used to save Eevee? I was so confused dude. I was so confused by you. But you make more sense to me than anyone else here. I wish I could tell you all of this. I wish I could be with you right now. I know that sounds gay…well, I guess I am gay. Haha. What about you Red? Do you like Leaf? Or Kris? I’ll help you with any girl you want. Unless…haha, you wouldn’t like guys, would you? I mean, it’s okay if you do. If you like Joey, I can put in a good word for you.”_

The video finally finished. There was silence. Even Pikachu—the loud-ass mouse—was silent. They were all probably trying to stifle their laughter about how pathetic Blue was. Tears started to cascade down Blue’s face as he prepared to get up and leave. He didn’t need Red to tell him how disgusted he was.

Blue nearly jumped when Red’s arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Blue. Frozen in place by the sudden contact, Blue struggles with the temptation to pull Red closer and the urge to push Red away.

“W-What…” Blue whimpered. “Red, please don’t…I don’t need you feeling bad for me.” Those words finally managed to get Red to pull away. Blue looked away, wiping his tears with the edge of his long-sleeves before Red returned with the familiar dragon-skinned notebook that Blue had bought for him as a gift. He handed it to Blue who carefully opened it, as if expecting a bomb to explode.

_Blue. I hate him. He gave me false hope. I finally thought I had found a friend. Someone who liked talking to me. Someone who liked my drawings of those monsters. It was different than talking to people on Poggo. BlueTurtle was someone in Pallet Town._

Those words seemed familiar to Blue. He had read them the first time he mended the bridge with Red. He was about to re-read the other lines about how _awful_ he was when Red turned a few pages for him and exposed a different page to Blue.

_Blue is confusing. He makes my mouth feel dry. He promises to be my friend. How can I ever repay that debt to Blue? I’ll never be able to deserve to be Blue’s friend. And what’s worse is that whenever I think of Blue I get so confused._

_When I see those mean girls drape themselves over him, I feel the urge to push them all away. When Leaf talked about how handsome Blue was, I wanted to walk away. Blue doesn’t even like them. He likes guys. He didn’t tell anyone else but me._

_It makes me angry. Blue pretends to be happy around his friends. He looks happier when we’re playing Colosseum. He looks happy talking about Eevee (that’s what we named the cat)._

_I hated Blue. But I don’t anymore. He’s my friend. My best friend. He talks a lot. But he worked hard to be my friend even after I pushed him away. No one has ever done that._

Blue put down the notebook as his hands trembled. Red’s cap was over his eyes again, as if that would hide his emotions from Blue. The brown-haired high-school student felt like there was a warm breeze melting away the painful frostbite of the shade. Red called Blue his _best friend_. But was that still true even after the video?

“I…what about my video?” Blue’s voice was so low as if he was afraid that he would speak too loudly and ruin everything. Red pushed up the brim of his hat and stared at Blue as if the other student was speaking another language. “Dude, I just…I was drunk and spilled my feelings out about you.”

Red shrugged. Blue froze. What did that shrug mean? Was the disgust settling in? Was Red only being nice to him as a way to repay Blue?

_I don’t know._ Red wrote underneath his words in the dragon-skinned notebook. _You are my best friend. I know that. But anything else I don’t really know_.

“That’s okay.” Blue whispered. He wasn’t sure how he felt: was he happy that Red still wanted to be his best friend? Was he sad that Red politely rejected his feelings? He enjoyed that hug from Red. But he wanted more. Was he allowed to ask for more? But Red said that he didn’t know. How did he not know?

“Thanks.” Blue sniffed. “I…don’t know what I would have done today if you didn’t calm me down.”

_You’re my best friend. I’ll be by your side._ Red wrote slowly and deliberately before handing the notebook back to Blue. Contrary to his name, Blue’s face became as red as the stripes on Red’s shirt.

* * *

The next day of school was probably the scariest day of Blue’s life. It was interesting how the tables had turned. Instead of Blue waiting for Red—Blue found Red waiting for him outside of the school. People had turned to look and whisper about the duo but Blue felt like the warmth emanating from Red enough to ward away the coldness. Red quickly pulled out his phone and sent a message which prompted Blue’s phone to vibrate in his pocket.

**Red:** I’ll protect you, Blue. Like you protected me.

Blue felt a dose of confidence hit him as he and Red walked into the school together. He hadn’t been sure before, but now he was sure that people were staring at him and Red. Fuck, had Rick sent around the video? Did everyone know now? Blue was tempted to walk away from Red and run back home. It’s not like Professor Oak would care as long as Blue agreed to be his lab rat.

“Hey Blue! You gonna be able to sit in class or will you need something for your sore—” The mean student was promptly silenced by Red grabbing the other kid’s collar and holding his clenched fist by the kid’s face.

“Red, it’s fine. Ignore the lowlife.” Blue whispered, pulling Red away from the student. People giggled at the scene but Blue oddly felt protected by Red. It was like that drowning shadow was still around him—but Red was a candle whose flame flickered to protect Blue from those dark feelings.

The two kids walked wordlessly toward Blue’s locker where he saw the silhouettes of the people he _least_ wanted to see right now. Red squeezed Blue’s shoulder as they slowly made their way to the locker.

“Aw, it’s the lovebirds.” Brian’s venomous voice slashed against Blue’s defenses. He took a deep breath and chose to ignore the comment as he tried to remember his combination to unlock his locker. “Blue, did you fucking put out for your grandfather, too? Let him take a turn at your ass so you would get the research position?”

“Brian, that’s disgusting!” Joanna giggled. “That’s Blue’s grandfather.” Blue could sense how Red was tensing, but his fists remained clenched. From the corner of his eye, Blue could see that Red’s phone was still in his hand. Was he planning on texting Blue something?

“The freaks are made for each other.” Brittany hummed. “Look how the mute’s chained to him. Who’s the girl in the relationship?”

“Definitely Blue.” Rick laughed. “Faggot probably takes it up the ass all the time. Brian, bro, we’re lucky that he never tried to get us drunk and like suck our dicks.” Blue didn’t notice that he had become petrified again. He couldn’t take this. He wasn’t strong enough. He wasn’t used to the oak tree no longer being there to protect him. He was going to fade away.

“No wonder he was soft when I grabbed his dick.” Jocelyn chuckled.

“Didn’t you say he was like super small, Jocelyn?” Joanna guffawed.

“No wonder he’s never slept with anyone.” Brittany shook her head.

“What a fucking poof.” Rick laughed.

“His gramps probably gonna get money for the lab by letting people run a train on him.” Brian laughed. Blue slammed his locker shut and glanced at Red as they walked away from the laughing crowd. For a moment, it looked like Red was smiling. Blue was confused—wait, was Red going to make fun of him too? Before Blue could say something, he realized that he had been absentmindedly following Red since his first class was in the other direction. Red turned back and smiled at Blue with his phone in his hand as he walked into Professor Sycamore’s classroom.

“Red? Blue?” Professor Sycamore glanced at the duo as he stood up from his desk. Red marched over to the professor and held his phone in the air. He tapped the screen and suddenly voices appeared in the room. 

_“Blue, did you fucking put out for your grandfather, too? Let him take a turn at your ass so you would get the research position?”_

_“Brian, that’s disgusting! That’s Blue’s grandfather.”_

Blue froze as Red tapped his screen again. Why had Red recorded all of that?! He glanced at the hallway behind him, wondering how fast he could run away from all of this.

“Red!” Professor Sycamore’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t mean to quite literally…well, you did it already.” Blue snapped his head toward the AP psychology teacher and Red.

“I think we should loop Blue into what’s going on.” Professor Sycamore invited the boys to take the two front seats by his desk. Red quickly emailed the audio file to Professor Sycamore who confirmed that he received it. “Red and I had an impromptu session after yesterday’s incident.”

“Right, cause you’re Red’s therapist.” Blue wasn’t sure where this conversation was going.

“He said it was okay to tell you since he already told you.” Professor Sycamore darted his eyes between Red and Blue. “As a clinical psychologist, I juggle a lot of roles. I teach. I do research. And I practice.”

“Red wanted to know how he could support his _best friend_.” Professor Sycamore sounded like he was teasing Red which seemed to work considering that the capped student was suddenly finding his shoes to be really interesting. “I had made a comment—something along the lines of recording or documenting evidence of bullying so we can bring it to the principal.”

“So Red…you recorded everything they said?” Blue was shocked. Red finally looked back up, a bright red blush spread across his face as he nodded. He quickly pulled out the dragon-skin notebook and scribbled some words into it.

_Sycamore and mom said no more punching. But I wanted to defend you._

“So…what happens from here?” Blue’s breath got stuck in his throat again. Professor Sycamore tapped the bottom of his chin as he contemplated several ideas. He then looked directly at Blue.

“What do you want?” Professor Sycamore asked. “I could easily report this. But I don’t want to take away from your autonomy. From my understanding, you were robbed of the autonomy to declare your identity.” Blue bristled at those words: Professor Sycamore had an interesting way of saying that Blue was forcibly outed against his will.

“We can report them.” Blue finally spoke. “They’ve done a lot of bad shit. And I have, too. But…I think I’m starting to make amends. I gave them a chance, too. They could have been chill with Red but they chose to continue being awful to him.”

“How brave of you.” There was a twinkle in Professor Sycamore’s eyes.

“Hey, Professor.” Blue glanced at Red nervously before looking back at his psychology teacher. “I think Gramps faked my application to his lab. I mean it when I say that I only applied to your lab. And I don’t want to work in his lab. I-Is there anything you can do?”

“Well…” Professor Sycamore glanced at Red before looking at Blue. “You did mention that possibility to me. And I had to choose a student for my lab.”

“You chose Red.” Blue realized, a weight filling his chest. “N-No, that’s great. Dude, you’ll kill it at his lab.”

“Hm.” Professor Sycamore glanced out the window from his seat. “I had a friend—we no longer talk—but he had this philosophy about how unproductive fools are consuming our future and if nothing changes, then the world will become ugly and conflicts will raze the land from end to end.” Blue and Red glanced at each other, both students clearly confused by the long rambling of the clinical psychologist.

“Ah, sorry. Got lost walking down memory lane.” Professor Sycamore smiled. “I thought of my friend because we often disagreed about his philosophy. He talked about how there were fools who would show their strength by taking what wasn’t theirs and that these fools felt entitled to what they stole. I don’t want you to make a decision right now, Blue, but if you’re comfortable—I could perhaps present to the principal that there may have been some foul play with the applications.”

Blue’s jaw dropped. He didn’t know who the hell was Professor Sycamore’s former friend but he was so grateful for that dramatic friend’s words. There was a brief moment where he wondered if he was doing the right thing by backstabbing his grandfather. There would be fall-out, for sure. Daisy would probably take Gramps’s side, too. Was it worth it? The idea of returning back to the shade offered by the tree seemed tantalizing to Blue.

But when Blue turned his head and saw Red’s soft round face, it felt different. He didn’t want to be shackled to the darkness or the umbrage from the oak tree. He wanted to be free. He didn’t care if he got burnt by the blazing sun. He wanted to feel its embrace—its warmth and its love. He was carving a path for himself that could backfire—but it would be his _own_ path. His _own_ consequences that he would have to face—ramifications that had to be faced by him and not anyone else.

Would Red still be by his side throughout it all? As if the capped boy had the ability to read Blue’s mind, he grabbed Blue’s hand and squeezed it. That was all the assurance Blue needed before nodding at Professor Sycamore.

“I’ll happily give you anything you need.” Blue admitted. “I have my confirmation email from the application service that shows I only applied to your lab.”

“Your grandfather will not be happy.” Professor Sycamore hummed. “I am not trying to stir the pot here, but I think—”

“Nothing I do will ever be good enough for him.” Blue confessed, surprising Red with his outburst. “Maybe he’ll realize that I finally was good enough to do something. I was good enough to piss him off.” With his trademark smirk returning to his face, Blue’s conviction strengthened by Red’s silent laughter. Even Sycamore seemed impressed by the high-schooler’s determination.

“Well, if all goes well, then I can start having you two work in my lab by the summer.” Professor Sycamore clapped his hands. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to make a visit to the principal. You two are welcome to stay here until third period when I have my first class.” With those words, Professor Sycamore’s white coat flew behind him as the tall man proceeded to make good on his promise to the boys.

“Thank you, Red.” Blue looked at the other boy. “Thank you for saving me.”

_Thank you for saving me, too_.

* * *

Life wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. A few weeks had passed and Blue finally felt like he was warming up to his new life. Professor Oak had been _fuming_ and a lot of insults were thrown toward Blue and his irreverence. Nonetheless, with all of the evidence available, the principal deemed it a “glitch” that Blue’s application ended up in Professor Oak’s system and granted Professor Sycamore the rare opportunity to take on two students in his research facility. From what Blue had heard, Brian was offered a position with Professor Oak’s lab as he was the runner-up. Unfortunately for Brian, Professor Sycamore had shared other news with Red and Blue.

The principal heard the callous (“and he quite literally said ‘disgusting’” Professor Sycamore had laughed with the boys during lunch) things that the other students had said. Professor Sycamore didn’t get the honor of being in the meeting with the students as the recording was played to them. But the principal did tell Professor Sycamore that those five students were prohibited from participating in the summer research internship program. They had to take a mandatory course on tolerance, sexual boundaries, and bullying. Blue could still feel their glares on his back, but he was safe because he had the sun by his side. He didn’t need to rely on the shade to shield him anymore.

At first, Red and Blue spent their lunch breaks with Professor Sycamore until the psychologist prodded them to reach out to Leaf and her friend. Before long, Blue was inducted into their friend group. Kris was skeptical at first, but Blue managed to channel his familiar Oak charm to win her over. The quartet created their own guild in Colosseum. To everyone’s surprise, Leaf was able to hold her own—even outlasting Red in some of the harder boss battles. The group also continued to sketch out ideas for the “Pokemon” that Red would draw. Blue’s favorite was the turtle with cannons on his shoulders (“His name should be Blastoise”). Leaf’s favorite was the quadripedal dinosaur that absorbed energy from the sun using a giant flower on its back (“What about Venuaur?”). Red’s favorite, unsurprisingly, was the lizard-dragon that breathed fire and had a flame attached to its tail (“Red calls it Charizard” Blue had boasted).

There was one matter that tugged at Blue’s heartstrings as the school year came closer and closer to an end. Red and Blue talked nearly everyday—they shared funny posts from Poggo with each other and talked about nearly everything that came to Blue’s mind. But there was one topic that Blue avoided like it was poison: his feelings for Red. The last words Red had said to Blue were “I don’t know.”

When Leaf and Kris agreed to go with each other to prom as “gal pals,” Blue felt some tension settle into his body. He avoided looking at Red for the rest of the day and half-assed his text conversations with the other boy. Staying at home wasn’t too bad whenever Professor Oak wasn’t home. But Blue wondered if a movie night with himself and Eevee could replace some of the fun of prom night. Leaf and Kris wouldn’t have it, however, as they pointed out “cute” guys to Blue. Red would look annoyed and give Blue a look that said something like “you can’t seriously be considering that, right?”

It was the penultimate day to buy tickets to prom. To distract himself, Blue was playing with Eevee—inwardly thanking his luck that his grandfather was so blinded by his anger toward Blue that he straight-up ignored all the obvious signs of a cat living at the house. The summer would definitely be a challenge and Blue almost wondered if he could rent a room at Red’s house while they completed their summer internship together. Delia seemed nice enough and Blue would actually help her with the dishes unlike Red.

“Eevee, if you had told me that reaching out to a stranger on Poggo would lead me to having a cat, the internship of my dreams, new friends, and being out to people—I would have wondered why the fuck a cat was talking to me.” Blue spoke aloud to himself. Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, Blue’s phone started to ring—who was calling him?

To Blue’s surprise, Red’s name appeared on the caller identification. Jumping to pick it up, Blue held the phone to his ear.

“Red?! Why are you calling me?” Blue wondered if he would hear Red’s voice. He would never pressure Red to verbalize anything, but it was a dream tucked away for the future. Delia claimed that Red had a beautiful voice, but that only reddened Red’s face during dinner.

There was a click on the other line, indicating that Red had hung up. Was it an accidental call? Blue guessed that it was just an accident. Red wouldn’t ever call him. Then, like the satisfaction that comes after biting into a rich chocolate bar, a text message appeared on Blue’s phone.

**Red:** Come outside.

Curious as he held Eevee in his arms (she would protect him if this was a serial killer, right?) Blue approached his front door and tried to peek outside. He didn’t see anything. Twisting the doorknob to open the door, Blue immediately smelled something like _garlic_ and _cheese_.

From his hiding place, Red appeared with a box of pizza. For some reason, Red’s face seemed even more squishable and red than usual. If he wasn’t holding the cat in his arms, Blue would have teased Red and asked if he could pinch the other boy’s cheeks.

“Did you bring me pizza, Red?” Blue cocked an eyebrow as Eevee jumped from his arms to play at Red’s heels. “You could have just told me that.” Red’s lips started to quiver and for a moment, Blue wondered if he said something wrong. Right as Blue was about to reach out to squeeze Red’s shoulder, the taller boy flung open the pizza box.

Blue was stunned—as if he had been a monster in Colosseum and an enemy had used a “paralysis” attack on him. There was a pizza in the box. The pizza—however—was not circular. It was not a square, either. It was in the shape of a…heart?

And even more confusing to Blue was the fact that there were pepperoni pieces on the pizza. Not that he minded pepperoni. But if Blue’s reading comprehension was functioning—it looked like the pepperoni was carefully arranged to spell out P-R-O-M.

“Red?” Blue’s eyes flitted from the pizza to Red’s _adorable_ blushing face. “Are you…asking me to prom?” Red instantly nodded and handed the pizza box to Blue. Still reeling from the shock, Blue took the box and let Red come inside his house. Eevee seemed delighted to see her co-parent as she tried all types of tricks to catch Red’s attention.

“Is…is this a joke?” Blue’s voice was soft, his eyes looking away. “I mean, it’s funny, but I just thought that since you know that I—” Red’s hands reach for Blue’s face as they trace a path from his temple down to his jaw. Blue stammered as Red’s large hands followed the path down the line of his throat. Blue wondered if Red could feel how _fast_ his pulse was running.

Red finally removed his hands and looked straight at Blue. He shook his head—answering the question from earlier. Blue fights the urge to pull Red down to him or to tackle him to the ground so he can press his mouth to the line of Red’s jaw. Blue _wanted_ Red so badly: he wanted to feel Red’s hand on his face; on his chest; on his hair; around his neck—he just _needed_ Red. As the silence and tension grew between the two boys, Blue noticed that Red doesn’t look away at all.

There was a sharp exhale from Red as his breath rushed out. Blue droped the pizza on the table as Red brought a hand to Blue’s collar, forcing the brown-haired boy to look directly at Red. There’s something—maybe it’s the sound of Blue’s heart jackhammering against his ribcage—and Blue let out a soft whimper. Red’s gaze dropped away and Blue internally cursed himself for being so vulnerable around Red: he wanted more of the touches and the touches but what if he was making Red feel weird? But…Red was here. Red had a heart-shaped pizza (probably courtesy of Leaf). Red was touching him. Drinking in the appearance in front of him, Blue reached out and brushed his fingers along Red’s chin to draw his attention so that their eyes were meeting again.

“Red.” Blue whispered. He let his fingers slide down to curl around the back of Red’s neck. He lightly touched the warm skin before leaning in to kiss him.

To Blue’s amazement, Red doesn’t turn away from the kiss. He doesn’t move away when Blue’s fingers press into Red’s neck to bring his lips even closer to Blue. The hesitance disappearing, Red leaned into Blue and steadied himself with his palm against the wall behind Blue who pressed his back against the surface.

The tentative brushing of their lips evolved into a ferocious force as Red pulled Blue closer by wrapping his other arm around Blue’s shoulder. When the two finally broke the kiss, Red kept his forehead planted against Blue’s forehead as if to maintain as little distance between them as possible. They’re both panted and Blue still had to pinch himself that he’s not having _another_ dream about Red. As if reading his mind again, Red moved closer and brought his mouth along the edge of Blue’s jaw, scraping his teeth against the defined lines.

“Red…” Blue’s voice was soft. He reached out to slip his arms around Red, soaking in the fact that he gets to _touch_ Red like this. “I’m here. With you.” Red’s head dipped down so his hot breath was against Blue’s neck. Blue took the position to kiss against Red’s ear and the edge of his jaw until Red tilted his head so that their lips could press against each other again. There was this hunger from Red that seems insatiable.

The two boys held onto each other after they broke their kiss. Blue was doing his best not to cry. It seemed like Red’s shaky breath meant that he was in a similar position. The way that Red held Blue made Blue feel like Red never wanted to leave Blue—and Blue wanted to throw off Red’s cap and slide his fingers through Red’s hair.

“I’ve wanted this—you—for months now.” Blue confessed. “I…is this happening?”

Red moved away a bit—earning a whine from Blue—just so that he can nod firmly. He ran a hand through Blue’s hair and then nodded again.

“Oh, and if it wasn’t obvious, Red.” Blue panted before reaching up to plant another kiss on Red. “I’m saying yes to your prom-posal.”

* * *

Blue was no longer scared of the bright sun. He didn’t need to hide behind the large oak tree to keep himself safe. He had the red sun by his side, gracing him with light and love. Sure, he and Red still had a lot of things to discuss. Red had confessed that he didn’t know if he was gay or whatever—but he knew that he wanted to be with Blue. But Blue knew that they could talk whenever they were ready. With Red’s help and guidance, Blue was free from the shackles of the shadows from the Oak Tree. He didn’t have to use its base as a cover for his flaws. He could freely shine in the glittering sun rays—flaws and strengths together—and he knew that the sun wouldn’t disappear from him. Blue didn’t doubt that there would be days where the sun seemed unbearable: but the thought of his former life and being someone else seemed nauseating.

Blue always had assumed that his legacy as an _Oak_ would determine the path ahead of him. But with the strength of Red’s fiery support by his side—Blue realized that he could now carve his own path. He didn’t need to rely on the looming legacy. He could be a researcher like Professor Sycamore. He could hold hands with Red without worrying about his life. He could be a nerd with Leaf, Red, and Kris. It was like a whole new world had opened up to him. This world had always seemed so scary—especially from the confines of the darkness created by the oak tree.

The sun was beautiful. Red was beautiful. And Blue was able to bask in the shining sunlight—free to grow like a green plant underneath Red’s warm gaze.

So when Sycamore mentioned that the trio’s research was going to be presented at a conference in the sunny, tropical Alola—Blue knew that he was headed in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fun facts:
> 
> The names of the other kids (Joanna, Brittany, Brian, Rick, and Jocelyn) were not completely random. According to Bulbapedia, in Generation VII, Viridian Forest has several trainers: Lass Joanna (with a Ratatta), Bug Catcher Brian (with a Weedle), Bug Catcher Rick (with a Caterpie), Lass Brittany (with a female Nidoran), and Lass Jocelyn (with a Pidgey). 
> 
> The quotes that Sycamore references are from Lysandre. I truthfully haven't played X/Y but I play Pokemon Masters and found quotes that Lysandre has said.
> 
> I was contemplating on how "bad" to make Professor Oak here. I think I made him seem really bad but I think it's fine. Obviously, I hope it goes without saying that Oak isn't "completely evil." He's not a good person, sure, but he (in a twisted way) wants the best for Blue. 
> 
> Oh, and finally: I didn't know if Eevee was a cat or a fox but I guessed that it would be more logical for Blue to hide a cat than a fox.


End file.
